Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Dir: Shawn Levy

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Aaron Stanford, Matthew Macfadyen

The irreverent superhero finally arrives in the increasingly desperate MCU, and the character’s unfiltered humour just about makes up for the lack of stakes or genuine peril.

Warning: This review may contain spoilers

Back in 2019, much like its titular caped heroes, the superhero sub-genre was seemingly impenetrable. Following the release of the record-shattering “Avengers: Endgame”, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had fully taken over the industry and showed no signs of slowing down. However, over the subsequent five years, Marvel President Kevin Feige and Disney having gotten too big for their boots, continuously churning out new material which has resulted in the market becoming oversaturated. Since the conclusion of the Infinity Saga, the MCU has produced a whopping twelve theatrical releases, not to mention the plethora of television series that have followed since Thanos’ demise at the hands of the Avengers five years ago. That is a staggering amount of content to keep on top of in order to stay up to date with Feige’s master plan, and this has seen many devout Marvel fans turning their back on the franchise.

With the exception of the odd hit, such as the surprisingly excellent “Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3”, Marvel and Disney stock has tanked in recent years and their box office returns have been underwhelming to say the very least. I personally have never been a serious MCU stan but found myself gripped by the well-thought out and executed build up and conclusion of Phase Three. Now, only a few years later, I often find myself rolling my eyes at the sight of any new Marvel content. The increasingly frustrated fandom has not gone unnoticed by Marvel and Disney, with Feige and his fellow producers becoming more and more desperate in an attempt to salvage the situation. This has only raised more eyebrows amongst fans, especially following the unveiling of Robert Downey Jr. as the new Doctor Doom at SDCC in July.

With the franchise in such dire straits, it is crying out to be saved by one of its biggest and most powerful superheroes. Instead of turning to one of their tried and tested heroes such as Spider-Man or Thor, Marvel have put the potential future of the franchise in the hands of…Deadpool. Having first portrayed the character, albeit poorly realised, in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” in 2009, Ryan Reynolds fully established himself as Wade Wilson/Deadpool following the release of the incredibly successful, and adult-rated, “Deadpool” in 2016, The movie’s success saw a sequel quickly greenlit, which would be released only a couple years later, but with the franchise being distributed by Fox, which was later acquired by Disney, the character’s fate was very much up in the air. When the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced Reynold’s Deadpool would be integrated into the MCU, despite his character’s films being more adult rated. Now in 2024, the MCU’s first foray into mature content, “Deadpool & Wolverine”, sees Reynolds return as the irreverent anti-hero, alongside the formidable Hugh Jackman, who once again returns as Logan/Wolverine.

I will attempt to avoid as many spoilers as I can with the brief synopsis and review but given the amount of cameos and narrative of the film, some may be unavoidable. We are re-introduced to our foul-mouthed protagonist, Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) as he travels to the “sacred timeline” in a desperate bid to join the Avengers, looking to give his life added meaning. After being rejected, Wade breaks up with his girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and works as a used car salesman with his friend Peter (Rob Delaney), having retired from being a masked mercenary. During his birthday party, a dejected Wade is captured by the Time Variance Authority (TVA) and brought to Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), who explains they are the organisation that monitors the “sacred timeline” and the wider multiverse. Paradox reveals that Wade’s timeline is deteriorating following the death of its “anchor being” Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), and that he plans to use a time-ripper to speed up the process, bringing an end to Wade’s universe.

Wade steals a TemPad and uses it to travel the multiverse in search of an alternate variant of Logan that can replace his own. Wade and Logan are sent to isolation in a cutting room floor hellscape called “The Void” by Paradox so he can continue with is plan unopposed. The Void is ruled over by the powerful and sadistic telepath Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), who sacrifices those who rebel her to creature Alioth. In order to right the wrongs of Logan’s universe and to save Wade’s from destruction, the unlikely duo team up with rebels within the Void in an attempt to get back to their respective timelines and stop Paradox and Cassandra from taking control of the multiverse.

Despite the immense marketing campaign and strong early word of mouth from audiences, I remained fairly reserved going into my screening of “Deadpool & Wolverine”. I only managed to attend a screening a week on from its worldwide release date and impressively managed to avoid any spoilers going in, but the hype built up and the incredible immediate financial return was not enough to make me forgive my experiences with the first two Deadpool outings. They may have been universally loved by audiences for their unhinged meta-humour, fourth wall breaks and over the top violence, but I never truly got on board with the Deadpool hype train. “Deadpool” (2016), was decent I guess, with the constant violence and brash humour being pretty unique for the superhero genre, but ultimately I found Reynold’s central hero to be rather grating. I know Wade Wilson is meant to be an obnoxious and often frustrating figure, as depicted in the comics, but I found his schtick tiresome, which only worsened in “Deadpool 2”. Reynolds comes across as a seemingly nice and genuine guy in real life, and what he has managed to achieve off camera has been exceptional but I have never been a strong admirer of his acting work, with the exception of his more dramatic projects such as “Buried” or “Mississippi Grind”. While his character continues to be an annoyance in his latest outing, he is thankfully grounded to some extent by Hugh Jackman as the ever more enjoyable and thematically compelling Logan.

It is when Reynolds and Jackman are emulating the more mature-rated, buddy action comedies of the past when “Deadpool & Wolverine” is at its strongest. I may find Reynolds’ character to be largely unlikeable and distasteful, but it is somewhat refreshing to see my viewpoint similarly reflected by Jackman’s gruff X-Man. The relentless meta-humour and industry based in-jokes are dialled up to eleven in this third film, with Marvel’s failures, both past and present, constantly being referenced. This is where I feel those audience members more out of touch with the industry, Disney’s endeavours in particular, will get lost amongst the plethora of narrative strands and jokes constantly addressing previous projects, whether or not they even came into fruition. The MCU has always put their fans above all else, and while this has kept those close to the franchise loyal, it does keep those not as familiar at arms length, and during what is a pretty dark time for the heavyweight cinematic universe, an over reliance on cameos and call-backs will only paper over the cracks. “Deadpool & Wolverine” is more guilty than most when it comes to egregious cameos, with several past members from Marvel, both inside and outside of the MCU, making unwarranted returns, and serving no real purpose other than cinematic nostalgia.

Narratively, this first R-rated MCU outing is structurally all over the place, with side characters cast off as swiftly as they arrive on screen. One major problem with the central characters is their unstoppable ability to rapidly regenerate, allowing them to be stabbed, shot and dismembered without any indication of pain or suffering. This fundamentally strips the film of any real peril, knowing that no matter what is thrown at our two heroes, they will be absolutely fine thanks to their unkillable natures. A larger scale problem that needs addressing by Marvel is the ongoing multiverse saga. When done correctly, as showcased in “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and the Sony animated “Spider-Verse” movies, the multiverse concept can deliver a lot of intriguing philosophical ideas as well as the hilarity of visiting multiple whacky dimensions. However, the MCU has failed to dive deeper into the multiverse beyond utilising the endless universes to bring back or introduce some of our favourite comic book characters, and if a franchise is capable of bringing back those that have previously met a grisly end, then all stakes are lost.

Early box office numbers indicate that Marvel’s latest gamble has paid off, having broken all sorts of financial records for an R-rated film on its way to making over $800 million worldwide in less than a fortnight. It has also clearly found its audience, with the biggest Marvel stans advocating the film and believing Reynolds’ Deadpool to be the “Marvel Jesus” he claims throughout the film. It is a testament to Feige et al that this move has paid off, and they have been rewarded despite it being possibly seen as yet another desperate move, and while I personally found many faults, it has clearly landed with its core demographic.

Jam-packed full of meta-commentary, fourth wall breaks and excessive comic violence that have become synonymous with the Deadpool franchise, “Deadpool & Wolverine” breathes new life into a dying MCU thanks to its non-stop contemptuous humour. It may not deliver on a deeper level but the chalk and cheese relationship between our central heroes just about makes up for any narrative faults.

Deadpool & Wolverine is now Showing in UK Cinemas

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