Deadpool & Wolverine

Like most fans, the moment Hugh Jackman announced that he would be bringing Wolverine out of retirement for Deadpool 3, my brain immediately went into a flurry of excitement and high expectations.

Tracking the Deadpool films so far, I loved the first one – it’s still the only film I’ve seen twice on the day it came out. Deadpool 2 was disappointing; a hard mix of underdeveloped characters and stories that tried to shoehorn in too many properties.

Deadpool and Wolverine is a return to form, with more time spent in development, the film is much stronger, and funnier, with a clearer plot and more heart. Reynolds has said that until Jackman phoned him, he had struggled to find the why of the film, which may explain why the first and third films are the stronger instalments in the series.

This is Deadpool’s introduction to the MCU, and while I really thought that the Doctor Strange wheel would land them in some part of said world, one where they would come face to face with some familiar characters, I think what they actually did was far smarter.

This film isn’t about building MCU’s next cinematic step, it’s a goodbye to Fox, a celebration of a legacy that started superhero films, led by two best friends who love and know these characters finally coming together to have fun. It’s essentially a really funny and violent buddy comedy, with plenty of action, cameos, and a nostalgic soundtrack. At its core it's a love hate bromance as two beloved characters try to save their worlds. And with Shawn Levy as the director, who has worked with both actors independently, the chemistry all around is electric.

So while we see one or two familiar MCU faces, the fun to be had is in Fox’s toy box of characters, like Chris Evans playing Johnny Storm again, a gag that perfectly sets the tone, working as a nod for MCU fans to Deadpool’s love of Cap, but really playing with expectations that actually, this is still in Fox’s wheelhouse.

I saw this on the day it came out as I knew spoilers would just pour onto social media, and I was right. A few days later the cast came out on stage and re-introduced Chris Evans, Jennifer Garner (Elektra), Wesley Snipes (Blade), Channing Tatum (Gambit), and Dafne Keen (X-23). Though a lot is on social media, including the comic book accuratevariations of Wolverine that Deadpool finds, the film is still stuffed to the brim with a plethora of more easter eggs.

The advantage of Deadpool is his ability to break the fourth wall, and now he’s part of the MCU there’s plenty of material for his self-deprecating, quick-witted, dry humour. And what better way to start than with a pegging joke, which as Deadpool notes isn't new to him, but is to Disney, followed by acknowledging that since the bigger events of Endgame and No Way Home, things haven’t been going quite as well. This film is allowed to take big wild swings at both Marvel and Fox properties, and they are struck perfectly.

While this may not be the next narrative step for the MCU, I hope thematically it gives Marvel the confidence that it’s okay to go wild and have more fun with their characters rather than rely totally on spectacle.

As a quick comparison, Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness had the expectations for a high-octane multiverse adventure. But possibly because that world can become a visual acid trip, we only got a short montage of different worlds before the film sticks to one. Yes, there are good cameos and shocking moments, but it never lived up to the hype of its title, nor were the characters developed. It was spectacle over character and given it swayed towards the former it needed to go big.

Whereas Deadpool and Wolverine has big set pieces, from Deadpool using Logan’s skeleton to fight the TVA toNSYNC’s Bye Bye Bye, to Wolverine finally wearing the mask to fight alongside Deadpool against a street filled with Deadpool variants to Madonna’s Like a Prayer, it gives us a healthy dose of spectacle and sticks the landing for heart and character. It’s worth noting that those MCU films that fully develop the balance between character and spectacle tend to succeed more than those too one sided – we connect and remember characters more.

And speaking of which, the villains of this piece add to the fun, with British actors, Matthew Macfadyen as Mr Paradox, and Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova. Their prowess comes from their personalities, with MacFadyen doing a more proficient Tom Wambsgans from Succession, while Corrin is given more arc and an array of fun powers – one involving manipulating others by pushing her hands through a character’s face and moving it around, sounds weird, it is, but it looks good. I thoroughly enjoyed both and was delighted to see them have more screen time than I expected.

And that's really the crux, Deadpool and Wolverine is a wild ride that plays with expectations. It’s a complete story unaffected by the MCU, with developed characters, actual British villains and a soundtrack that’s so morish and nostalgic.

The plot is standard, and the third act is a familiar trope of Marvel, but that’s fine because what makes this film is the script, characters, humour, chemistry, and heart. It’s just really good fun, and at its core are two vulnerable characters trying to save the ones they love.

The kinship in this film gives Marvel a healthy dose of cinematic magic, perhaps not enough to change the tide and course correct the current direction of the MCU Phases, I’ve seen them all but even I’ve lost track of where we are. As it's the only MCU film out this year it hopefully gives Marvel a moment to keep us entertained while it takes a deep breath and finds its heading.

Will this film last beyond being an event? Maybe, there’s enough in this to keep digging, but what I do know is that it worked in a cinema packed with other fans as we celebrated two beloved characters, in an homage to the superhero films we grew up with.

Overall ****1/2