Greetings!
This poor excuse of a film critic named Sean Kelly is currently penning this review from an iPad in Montreal and he can’t include the same number of fourth wall breaks as his other Deadpool reviews. However, he still asked me to assure you that there will be NO SPOILERS in this review.
NOW GO SEE THE MOVIE IN THE THEATRE LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN BEING!
The merc with the mouth recruits a variant of Logan to help save his universe in Deadpool & Wolverine. Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) has given up life as the mercenary Deadpool and now works as a used car salesman with Peter (Rob Delaney). A surprise birthday party for Wade is interrupted when he is taken by the Time Variance Authority and is introduced to Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), who tells Wade that his universe is collapsing as a result of the death of Logan, aka Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), who was the anchor being of the universe.
Unwilling to let his universe die, Wade recruits a variant of Wolverine to help save the universe. However, both ended up being pruned by the TVA and ended up in the Void, ruled by Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), the forgotten twin sister of Charles Xavier. Deadpool and Wolverine reluctantly have to team up if they are to escape the Void and save Deadpool’s universe.
Deadpool & Wolverine Synopsis
Deadpool & Wolverine is the third film in the Deadpool film series, directed by Shawn Levy (Free Guy). As a result of 20th Century Fox being acquired by Disney, this film not only brings the world of Deadpool to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but without getting too much into detail, the film also serves as a way to retire the Marvel properties owned by 20th Century Fox, particularly X-Men, before the development of future MCU reboots. This includes bringing Hugh Jackman back for one more go around as Wolverine, with the film finding a clever way to bring him back, despite dying at the end of 2017’s Logan.
An eventual team-up between Deadpool and Wolverine was teased back in the original Deadpool film in 2016, though Hugh Jackman’s retirement from the role after 2017’s Logan seemed to make that an impossibility. However, thanks to a multiverse plotline, Jackman can return as a variant of Wolverine, for the first time wearing his famous yellow and blue costume, who is from a timeline where he was a failure to the X-Men.
My Thoughts on Deadpool & Wolverine
I am frankly quite amazed that a Deadpool movie was produced by Marvel Studios, which retains the violence and language, along with the fourth-wall-breaking narration, making Deadpool such an endearing and/or polarizing character. While Deadpool & Wolverine is likely not going to win over those who despise the character, it is also a film that contains everything there is to love about Deadpool.
While Deadpool & Wolverine introduces both characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the film is ultimately a standalone adventure, except for some fouth-wall-breaking comments about The Avengers. The film seems much more interested in concluding the 20th Century Fox Marvel Universe, which includes cameos from X-Men and other franchises. I don’t want to get too into detail, since part of the fun of Deadpool & Wolverine is seeing who shows up, on both the hero and villain’s side.
While Deadpool & Wolverine is not going to magically end MCU fatigue, as some have been hyperbolically suggesting, it is still an entertaining conclusion to this trilogy. The character might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman end up having great chemistry with each other, as either friend or foe. Then there’s the pitch-perfect Madonna needle drop, which includes probably the most crowd-pleasing moment in the entire franchise.
