Deadpool & Wolverine continues to impress at the global box office, breaking multiple records. In addition to its financial success, the film has also proven to be the latest success story for the highly profitable MCU. One of the jokes in the film’s trailer that caught the attention of fans was one in which Deadpool referred to himself as “Marvel Jesus.” Director Shawn Levy has since come out to clarify the meaning behind the dialogue and provide more context about the line.

In a recent interview, director Shawn Levy revealed that the “Marvel Jesus” joke was written long before the MCU’s recent string of failures.

Since the release of Iron Man in 2008, Marvel Studios has seen itself grow with each new project. However, many commentators began to notice a hiccup in the MCU’s success following 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. The blockbuster MCU sequel The Marvels was rumored to be the biggest flop of 2023, with Disney reportedly losing over $200 million on the film. As a result, it was expected that Deadpool’s MCU debut would mark the beginning of a new chapter in the franchise’s history. Given that, the “Marvel Jesus” joke seemed to imply that a return to profitability would be part of this.

However, Levy has now offered a counter-argument, arguing that the line wasn't written to mock the current state of the MCU. "What I will say is, we wrote that line long before there was this loud conversation about superhero fatigue," the filmmaker told ComicBook.com. "And I think that was before [Ant-Man and the Wasp] Quantumania came out; before The Marvels came out. So the fact that it ended up fitting into this story and this cultural moment? That was fortuitous."