Marvel Studios introduced a new concept into the MCU with their latest R-rated summer blockbuster ‘Deadpool & Wolverine‘, that being Anchor Beings. This term/entity plays a very pivotal role in the film’s plot and could foreshadow greater things to come as the MCU further explores the multiverse. But what exactly is an Anchor Being and what role might they play going forward?
Essentially the Anchor being refers to a single individual in a specific universe whose presence is absolutely vital for the stability and continued existence of that reality. In ‘Deadpool & Wolverine‘, it’s revealed that Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine served this role for the specific timeline of Earth-10005. His untimely death in ‘Logan‘ initiated a slow degradation of that world without his presence as an Anchor Being. So, let’s under the Anchor Being term in detail and whether or not it exists in the comics.
The Anchor Being Has No Direct Comic Book Counterpart
While the Anchor Beings are a new concept created just for the MCU, they share similarities to powerful beings known as ‘Nexus Beings‘ that have existed in Marvel Comics. What has baffled a lot of hardcore fans is that the nexus beings were teased in ‘WandaVision‘, so why a new term for essentially the same thing?
Nexus beings are exceedingly rare individuals with the ability to alter probability and impact their timeline’s future through a pivotal “Nexus Event” (Somewhat like the canon events in ‘Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse‘). They also help stabilize and anchor their reality. However, Anchor Beings does not have a direct comic counterpart and seems to be MCU-specific in this case.
Considering how the removal of just one Anchor Being like Wolverine gradually causes the death of an entire world, one can imagine the chaos that may follow in the case of continuous loss of Anchor Beings across the multiverse. As the MCU approaches a very multiversal culmination with Secret Wars, the concept of Anchor Beings might be crucial in a lot of ways to prevent a total multiversal collapse.
In case you missed it: Why Did The Avengers Reject Deadpool in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’?
Will The Concept Of “Anchor Being” Play A Vital Role In MCU?
By introducing Anchor Beings, Marvel Studios has established a new class of character imminent to grand multiversal affairs. While Wolverine’s role was localized to one world, the question arises about the Anchor Being of Earth-616. Their future importance is hard to underestimate as the cross-reality interactions are going up with the project.
Anchor Beings may provide central to protecting all of existence across time and space when something like Galactus emerges. Marvel has long-term plans as made clear by Feige, and this concept was surely not born just for one movie. Fans can expect much more from anchor beings as the MCU’s Multiverse Saga progresses.
‘Deadpool & Wolverine‘ introduced a fascinating new piece to the puzzle of Marvel’s interconnected multiverse with Anchor Beings. While simple in concept for now, who is to question their importance in the future? How the MCU chooses to utilize such beings going forward will likely have an impact on the phases yet to come. Fans can only speculate, theorize and hope for what’s going to unfold.
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