Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Deadpool 2

-

With a time-traveling Cyborg like Cable joining the ranks for Deadpool 2, we probably should have guessed the the movie's ending would include multiple timelines. Deadpool 2 opens with our (sort of) hero Wade Wilson petulantly blowing himself up in an effort to outdo Logan's big death scene from last year, declaring, "I'm dying in this one too!" Sure enough, the movie's final act sees Deadpool nobly sacrificing himself to save young mutant Russell (in more ways than one). After a series of attempts at dramatic final lines, he finally goes out with a whisper of, "Do you want to build a snowman?"

That's not where the movie ends, though. Touched by Deadpool's sacrifice, Cable decides to make a sacrifice of his own: using the final charge on his time-traveling device to go back in time to their arrival at the Essex Home for Mutant Rehabilitation and arrange things so that Deadpool doesn't get killed. After that, Deadpool uses Cable's time-travel watch (secretly repaired by Negasonic Teenage Warhead) to go back and fix a bunch of other terrible events from the movie (though, unfortunately, not to kill baby Hitler). Here's how it all goes down.

Deadpool Sacrifices His Life to Save Russell

Deadpool 2 - Julian Dennison as The Kid

Deadpool's second act is all about a race between X-Force (or what's left of them, following a poorly-planned sky-dive) and Cable to get to Russell a.k.a. Firefist. Cable wants to kill Russell because the angry teen grows up to be an angry adult who murders Cable's family. However, Deadpool - who is trying to get his heart in the right place so that he can reach his lost love, Vanessa - is determined to try and save Russell's life, and his soul.

After a massive battle ends with Russell running off with Juggernaut (surprise!) and Deadpool having to regrow his legs (gross), Cable shows up at Blind Al's apartment, ready to make a truce. He explains that Russell is about to go and kill the headmaster who abused him, and that once he gets his taste for killing he continues down a dark path that eventually leads to the deaths of Cable's wife and daughter. Cable wants to kill Russell, but Deadpool bargains for a chance to save him - thirty seconds to change the kid's mind.

The characters converge on the Essex Home for Mutant Rehabilitation, where Russell and Juggernaut have already arrived and are ready to start wreaking havoc. Russell begins a rampage through the orphanage while Juggernaut holds off Domino, Cable and Deadpool. The three struggle to defeat him until Colossus arrives (having been won over by Deadpool's Say Anything homage), and works together with Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio to take down the giant mutant. Deadpool and Cable are delayed again, however, by the arrival of the orphanage staff, and another big fight ensues.

Meanwhile, Russell chases the headmaster through the orphanage, burning it down as he goes. Domino battles the staff inside and rescues the children from the fire. Deadpool and Cable finally catch up to Russell at the chapel, and while the headmaster cowers in the playground, Deadpool tries to talk Russell out of killing him. As a final gambit, he puts on a collar that suppresses his powers and prevents him from healing, telling Russell that if he's going to kill anyone, he'll have to kill Deadpool first. As Russell powers up his flames, Cable decides he's a lost cause and grabs his gun.

To cut a long slow-mo sequence short: Cable's bullet hits Deadpool instead of Russell - a lethal wound, without his super-healing. Russell is shocked out of killing the headmaster, steered away from the dark path he was heading down when he sees undeniable proof that Deadpool really does care about him. Deadpool refuses to let Colossus remove the collar, explaining that he's "been trying to make this happen for a while now." He dies, and is finally reunited with Vanessa in the afterlife (he even gets his dashing good looks back). However, Vanessa tells him that it's not his time yet, and sends him back. Here's why:

Cable Time-Travels To Save Deadpool's Life

Deadpool's sacrifice not only saves Russell's life, but also changes the timeline so that Cable's wife and daughter are not killed. After realizing this (because his daughter's teddy bear is no longer blood-stained), Cable uses the final charge on his time-travel device to go back in time to when they all arrived at the orphanage. This time when Deadpool asks about the teddy bear, instead of explaining bluntly that it's soaked with his daughter's blood, Cable simply says that it belonged to her daughter, and that her name is Hope. Before they head in, Cable slaps his hand over Deadpool's chest.

The movie then fast-forwards through the rest of the battle, up to the point where Deadpool has put on the collar and Russell is about to kill the headmaster. Deadpool does his slow-mo dive again, Cable fires the gun, and Russell is once again stopped in his tracks by the realization that someone was willing to die to protect him. However, this time Deadpool isn't bleeding from the gunshot hole. He feels around under the shoulder strap on his suit, and finds the Skee-Ball token that Vanessa gave to him as an anniversary gift, which Cable stole during their first battle. When Cable slapped his hand against Deadpool's chest, he planted the Skee-Ball token in the exact spot where the bullet would hit him.

Cable's wife and daughter are still saved, but now Cable has given up his one shot at getting back to them. He says that he's decided to stick around, to try and prevent the world from the ruination that he saw in the future. The group make a move to leave before Juggernaut recovers consciousness, but on their way out they are called back by the headmaster, who is spitting anti-mutant sentiments at them. Cable is about to kill him and shut him up for good, but Deadpool stops him, insisting that there's been enough killing already.

If that sounds out of character, it's because Deadpool is actually just stalling for time. While the headmaster is mid-speech - WHAM! - Dopinder's taxi smashes into him at high speed, reducing him to a bloody smear on the road. Dopinder celebrates his moment of glory, joins the rest of the team, and the movie ends. Well, sort of.

Page 2: End-Credits Scenes, Deadpool 3, and X-Force

X Men Origins Wolverine Mouthless Deadpool

End-Credits Scenes

Deadpool 2 has a series of end-credits scenes, starting with a scene in which Negasonic Teenage Warhead is repairing Cable's time travel device. As Deadpool makes off with the newly repaired device, Yukio muses that this was probably a bad idea and Negasonic, horrified, asks, "What have we done?"

Wade's first stop, naturally, is the day that Vanessa was killed. This time they make sure their cream cheese spreader is sharpened in advance, and Deadpool kills the attacker before he can shoot Vanessa. So, Vanessa's death is undone. Deadpool also goes back and undoes Peter's death - although, funnily enough, he doesn't choose to save any other members of X-Force.

The next stop is X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where Deadpool intervenes at the start of the confrontation between Wolverine and the pale, mute version of Deadpool. Deadpool 2 shoots Deadpool 1 in the head, and then a few more times for good measure, cheerfully explaining to Wolverine that he's "fixing the timelines." Deadpool's final stop is the moment when Ryan Reynolds agreed to sign on for Green Lantern, believing that it would be his big break. Deadpool shoots the poor, naive Reynolds in the head and signs off with, "You're welcome, Canada."

Deadpool 3... Or X-Force?

Deadpool and the X-Force team prepare to jump out of a plane in Deadpool 2

Deadpool 2 has a big build-up to the formation of X-Force - which is to be expected considering that X-Force is the next movie on the studio's agenda, with Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) on board to write and direct. However, the X-Force team hits a bump in the road when every new recruit except for Domino is horribly killed due to Deadpool's failure to heed weather warnings. This leaves X-Force's ranks looking pretty thin.

Fortunately, they're looking a little thicker again by the time the credits roll. At the end of the movie, there's a clear line-up of six characters: Deadpool, Domino, Cable, Firefist, Colossus and Dopinder. Intriguingly, when Shioli Kutsuna (who plays Yukio) pops up in the credits, there's a scribbled note next to her name that says, "The X-Force is strong with this one," indicating that she may be along for the ride in X-Force as well. Zazie Beetz will definitely reprise her role as Domino in X-Force, and Josh Brolin has a four-movie arc planned for Cable, so we can almost certainly count him in as well. Julian Dennison's Firefist seems like a natural fit for the team. Colossus embraced his dirty side in Deadpool 2, so we may well see him switch from the X-Men to X-Force (after all, it's not like the X-Men movies are using him).

That leaves Deadpool and Dopinder, and you may be wondering if Deadpool will be sticking with the X-Force franchise or going solo in Deadpool 3. Well, according to Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool 3 is actually unlikely to happen - at least, in the near future. Instead, Reynolds said, "going forward it would be an X-Force movie, which would be his team." That certainly fits with Wade's arc in Deadpool 2, since he goes from seeing family as just another "F" word to truly finding his place amid the mismatched collection of mutants (and Dopinder).

Then, of course, there are Vanessa's cryptic final words to Deadpool in the afterlife. When he asks why he can't die yet, she shows him the people gathered around his fallen body, and tells him that they need him. "Why?" he asks. "You'll find out," she replies.

It might be subtle, but it certainly sounds like sequel-bait! And it suggests that Deadpool's next adventure will be another family film.

More: Deadpool 2 Almost Included Chris Evans' Human Torch

Key Release Dates