Deadpool & Wolverine Review

It has been six years since Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool appeared on the big screen and seven years for Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. They finally team up with Deadpool & Wolverine and become a part of the MCU multiverse.

Since the events of Deadpool 2, Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Reynolds) developed a mid-life crisis. He has been rejected by the Avengers, quit being a superhero to work as a car salesman, and has broken up with his fiancée (Morena Baccarin). Deadpool also gets abducted by Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), a rogue agent of the TVA, and learns his universe is about to be erased because of Logan/Wolverine’s (Hugh Jackman) notable sacrifice in Logan. Deadpool travels the multiverse to find another Wolverine and save his universe.

Since Disney’s takeover of 20^th Century Fox Studios, the future of the X-Men movie was in doubt. Dark Phoenix had a troubled production with the third act completely altered, resulting in director Simon Kinberg having a dig against Disney by naming the faceless goons who hold the X-Men hostage the ‘MCU.’ The New Mutants had numerous reshoots and Disney had to release it in cinemas so they dumped it out during the middle of the Covid pandemic. Even Maisie Williams, one of the stars of The New Mutants threw shade at the film.

However, after Avengers: Endgame the MCU has pivoted towards the multiverse. Spider-Man: No Way Home brought back Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of Spider-Man, and Patrick Stewart and Kelsey Grammer reprised their roles for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Marvels. Disney acknowledges Marvel films made by other studios have a fanbase and should be respected.

Deadpool & Wolverine aimed to celebrate the Fox X-Men movies and be a swansong for the 20^th Century Fox films. It was a self-referential film filled with cameos and actors reprising roles. Some actors already revealed were Dafne Keen as Laura/X-23, and Tyler Mane as Sabretooth. This was a film with many references that will delight comic book fans, especially when Deadpool meets different variants of Wolverine.

Deadpool & Wolverine was a film made for the fans and filled with fan service. This can be a double-edged sword since it could please or annoy audiences. There were some obvious references for general audiences, some replications of famous comic book covers and panels, funny digs at the current state of the MCU and there were references that only big movie nerds would understand. Deadpool & Wolverine was a film with a rapid-fire approach to jokes that only the most joyless person wouldn’t laugh at all.

Deadpool & Wolverine was more embedded in the Fox universe instead of the MCU. The visuals and tone were more like the first two Deadpool films due to the bright colours, excessive amounts of blood, swearing, and self-referential humour. I enjoyed the carnage of the first action scene where Deadpool got to desecrate a corpse. Audiences who enjoyed the previous two films should enjoy Deadpool & Wolverine: my brother laughed a lot during the film. People who find Deadpool’s motormouth joke delivery annoying then they will probably empathise with Wolverine. Deadpool & Wolverine aimed to be a film to act as a closing chapter for the Fox comic book movies.

There were references to the larger Marvel Universe. The TVA was the main connection with the MCU and there was a reference to the Loki episode “Journey into Mystery,” but only a general knowledge of the MCU was required. Deadpool 2 and Logan were more necessary viewing. The most appropriate MCU comparisons that can be made would be with Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. This was due to Deadpool & Wolverine and Guardians of the Galaxy 3 being standalone adventures that were separate from the rest of the MCU, whilst the third entries in the Deadpool and Ant-Man series took characters who had smaller stories into grander, universe-saving adventures.

Deadpool & Wolverine has been a highly hyped film and the spectacular opening weekend proved this. It had the advantage of being the only superhero film being released in 2024. However, it has been amped up by the fanbase audience, which risked raising expectations too high. Its audience scores on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes have been extremely high, but it was far from being a game-changing superhero film. It wasn’t even the best film in the X-Men or MCU franchises.

Deadpool & Wolverine was a fun experience. It offered plenty of violent catharsis and fan service for audiences, but it was cinematic fast food.