Deadpool & Wolverine

Following the success of the original Deadpool, Fox had plans for at least two sequels: Deadpool 2 and another film featuring the X-Force. However, the Disney/Fox Merger, which completed in 2019, nixed those plans and left the future of any X-Men films uncertain, though Disney CEO Bob Iger had assured audiences that Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool would be integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and that any Deadpool films would remain R-rated despite Marvel’s prior PG-13 output. While Marvel Studios spent some time gathering the creative team for a third Deadpool film, Hugh Jackman, who had retired the role of Wolverine after his performance in Logan, joined Reynolds on the project after learning that the film wouldn’t conflict with Logan. When filming finally started in 2023, the production faced a notable delay when the dual WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes kicked in, as the initial WGA strike meant that Reynolds couldn’t improvise any dialogue on set, but SAG-AFTRA joining in put filming on hold until its resolution, after which it compensated with a new release date of July 26, 2024.

The finished film, Deadpool & Wolverine, has released in a very interesting climate. Although the MCU remains popular, it has suffered diminishing returns during Phase Five and Marvel Studios has fatigued viewers to the point that they scaled back their TV and film production. Deadpool & Wolverine not only has the honor of the first R-rated MCU film, but also the only MCU film of 2024 (with Joker: Folie à Deux the only DC film of the year). On top of that, the film released during the same weekend as San Diego Comic-Con, which meant that thousands of fellow nerds potentially had to go up to four days dodging spoilers and I couldn’t watch it until the following Monday. Considering the added pressure for the diminishing box office returns of the post-Endgame MCU films, it’s very fortunate that Deadpool & Wolverine felt more than worth the wait and mostly lived up to the hype.

Per the official synopsis: Wade Wilson lives a quiet life, having left his time as the mercenary Deadpool behind him, until the Time Variance Authority (TVA)—a bureaucratic organization that exists outside of time and space and monitors the timeline—pulls him into a new mission. With his home universe facing an existential threat, Wilson reluctantly joins with an even more reluctant Wolverine on a mission which will change the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

As with Deadpool 2, Deadpool & Wolverine’s higher budget, which I would attribute to gaining access to “Marvel money” following the film’s inclusion in the MCU, leads to greater scope, this time with the fate of an entire universe at stake. Unlike other attempts at depicting the multiverse within the MCU, however, Deadpool & Wolverine makes the most of its budget in a very smart way. Rather than acting as a glorified character introduction, requiring knowledge of thirty other films or just color-grading New York in different ways, Deadpool & Wolverine takes the multiverse concept and uses it for meta commentary on that very concept. While The Void acts as a space for the discarded remnants of dead universes, most of what we see comes from unused concepts within the MCU or the remains of Fox’s Marvel films, either from failed film projects or the unfortunate victims of the Disney/Fox merger. As such, the film makes copious references to the former Fox universe in a way that feels like both good-natured ribbing and a loving tribute to a bygone era. There’s even a heartwarming montage during the end credits that shows the actors having fun while making those films, regardless of how they turned out.

Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds, right) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, left)
form a reluctant alliance to escape The Void.

Despite the multiverse elements, however, a consistent theme of friendship runs throughout. Deadpool and Wolverine each go through their own character arcs that mirror each other, the danger of losing a found family vs already losing everything, but the friendship that forms between them leads to a rather wholesome ending that feels earned. It helps that underneath all of the blood and gore, we do get some emotional moments that help with better understanding the title characters, including an “Act 3 flashback” that fleshes out the Logan Variant’s backstory. Then there’s how the film treats Logan with reverence, even echoing its themes of purpose and sacrifice from its emotional ending. The concept of The Void also fuels Deadpool’s motivation on both a personal and meta level, as he gets a glimpse of what would happen if he joined the MCU and left everyone he had grown attached to behind.

Deadpool & Wolverine also proves that even in the current, aimless “Multiverse Saga”, a Marvel film really can make itself more accessible to someone not following all of the MCUs splintered media religiously. Although we see no shortage of Fox references, and hear mention of a specific episode of Loki, the story explains all of the relevant characters in an efficient way that lets anyone follow along. Watching all of Fox’s X-Men films beforehand, as we did, does give certain cameos more of an impact, but you could still get away with at most a vague idea of who played whom, and even then, the cameos are written in a way that that doesn’t matter, barring one well-timed joke involving a specific actor. This amount of effort is more than I can say for other post-Endgame MCU films like Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness or even Spider-Man: No Way Home, so I would hope that future MCU projects could take a similar approach.

At least consider watching Deadpool and Deadpool 2 first.

As for the humor, this third entry downplays the raunchiness of the previous films in favor of additional blood and gore, but that means that the adult jokes have better timing and land with greater consistency. Deadpool & Wolverine also learned from Deadpool 2 and cut back on the pop culture references in favor of more in-universe jokes, which also have more breathing room instead of the prior rapid-fire approach. One could find some hypocrisy in how it takes rightful jabs at the overuse of the multiverse, even outright saying that audiences have gotten tired of its presence, yet it still does the multiverse thing anyway. However, this particular story couldn’t happen without the multiverse angle and I felt that it had a better execution than most other multiverse stories.

As with Deadpool and Deadpool 2, Deadpool & Wolverine has great acting from everyone involved, past and present. In the interest of not spoiling anything, I’ll highlight the chemistry between Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds, who work very well together onscreen and prove they are still perfect choices for those roles. Hugh Jackman may not have the same emotional performance he had from Logan, but he does an excellent job at making different Wolverines feel different from each other.

This is also the best-looking Deadpool movie yet, with varied and unique sets that give a sense of otherworldliness while offering some familiarity. Deadpool and Wolverine’s costumes have a pleasing aesthetic and Wolverine’s iconic yellow suit actually looks great on camera, though the cowl looked best when worn sparingly. An increase of blood and gore also results in more fight scenes, all of which have creative choreography, including a masterful use of “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC, one of many well-chosen licensed songs.

Deadpool & Wolverine has great set design.

Of course, the film isn’t free of criticism. The structural similarities with the original Deadpool aren’t a big deal, but it did drag a little for a few minutes towards the end in an otherwise well-paced plot. I also noticed here, more so than in other MCU films, that certain character introduction shots linger just a little too long, as though giving the theater audience (perhaps even the audience during the surprise Hall H screening at San Diego Comic-Con 2024) time to react. One other thing that may not matter much for some is that while the film insists on rendering other Deadpool Variants and Wolverine’s yellow suit in a comics-accurate fashion, Dogpool isn’t as comics-accurate due to a difference in dog species.

While not as narratively-complex as Deadpool 2, Deadpool & Wolverine still feels like an improvement over it and represents one of the few enjoyable post-Endgame MCU films along with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (and maybe Spider-Man: No Way Home). For the entertainment factor alone, I would highly recommend Deadpool & Wolverine and hope that Marvel Studios can take the right lessons from it going forward.