Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Flapping Jaws & Slashing Claws

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

What does Deadpool & Wolverine bring to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? It certainly brings a shot in the arm. It brings a lot of laughs (the most enjoyable Marvel movies have always had a sense of humor). And it brings it touch of the truth.

That truth is that universes and franchises and sequels and reboots and requels and what have you, have expanded to beyond the edge of reason. Studios have strip-mined old properties for "new" material, no matter the cost. And audiences have been left vaguely unsatisfied, perhaps with the feeling that the stories will never end (they have no meaning ), and with the idea that viewers are merely guinea pigs in a story-churning factory. The stories are not told for anyone… just for profits.

Deadpool & Wolverine is absolutely part of this problem, but the fresh part is that it knows it, admits it, and has a good time with it. It's deeply satisfying to hear the old Merc with a Mouth air our grievances (even if he's also adding to them). Right off the bat, the movie acknowledges the great Logan (2017), which had a bracing, adult approach to its superhero story, and, more importantly, allowed it to end.

Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) quizzes the audience on how they could possibly resurrect Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) while paying respect to the earlier film. The answer: "we won't." He later teases his co-star that "you're going to play him until you're NINETY."

There are also many jokes about the complicated shakeups that allowed the X-Men heroes to transfer from Sony to Disney and become part of the official MCU. ("I'm going to DISNEYLAND," snaps Deadpool after smashing a camera lens presumably belonging to some poor 20th Century Fox cameraperson.)

OK, so this Wolverine is from an alternate universe (and there are direct-hit jokes about the Multiverse). Deadpool is abudcted and taken to TVA ("Time Variance Authority") headquarters, where he meets the movie's sniveling English villain, Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen). He is told that his particular universe is about to end due to the death of its "anchor being," which was Logan.

Mr. Paradox offers him a chance to live in another timeline, where he may become an Avenger, but instead he decides to try to save his own timeline by finding another Logan and bringing him there. This results in a series of jokes about the "reject" Wolverines he goes through before he finds an acceptable version. Unfortunately, the version he chooses is an outcast in his own timeline, responsible for a great tragedy.

Mr. Paradox sends both heroes into "The Void," a timeline that is basically a junkyard world full of misfits and rejects. ("It's kinda Mad Max-ey," says Deadpool.) They encounter Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) the forgotten twin sister of Charles Xavier, who rules the Void with her powerful telekinetic abilities.

Nova can get them home, but first they must team up with whatever Marvel heroes are stuck in the Void and fight her. I'm DYING to tell you about who they meet, but the reveal took me entirely by surprise, and it was a pure pleasure, even if most of it was based on nostalgia.

Now, in order to get Wolverine to cooperate, Deadpool tells him a lie, or rather an "educated wish," that he can send him back in time in his own timeline, so that he can undo the tragedy that ruined him. But before this can even be considered, they must stop Mr. Paradox, who has now begun to destroy several timelines. "We're in the home stretch now, folks, I promise," Deadpool assures us, JUST as I was about to check my watch. How did he know?

So the movie is fast-paced and funny, and it doesn't wear out its welcome, but what we take home is the emotional struggle as both characters wrestle with their failures. Deadpool (Wade) has lost his purpose, lost his girlfriend (Morena Baccarin) and is working as a used car salesman alongside his pal Peter (Rob Delaney), while Logan is haunted by the voices of the dead and blames himself.

Logan broods while Wade jokes. And they bicker and fight in spectacular fashion. They have a showdown on The Void that's pretty cool, but far better is a knock-down, drag-out brawl they have inside a Honda Odyssey.

Unlike in other movies, Logan actually opens up to someone and talks about his feelings a bit. Wade talks TOO much but also finds time between quips to talk about what's really on his mind. And it goes without saying that they have great chemistry, these two bad boys of the X-Men world. Reynolds and Jackman are besties in real life, having met on X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), where Reynolds played an early, pre-Deadpool version of the Wade character. And they click onscreen.

It's hard not to love these guys, honestly, especially when Deadpool falls head-over-heels in love with a dog he finds on The Void, called "DogPool" in the movie and named Peggy in real life. She's considered "Britain's ugliest dog," with no fur other than a tuft on top of her head, googly eyes, and a lolling tongue. (Wolverine snarls and rolls his eyes at his pal's new pet.) Anyone who could love a dog like that has a heart of gold in my book.

So… that's a lot, but what does it add up to? Is there anything under the surface? Perhaps not. The movie is funny and entertaining, and it's about characters that we adore. It's speedy and surprising and spectacular in all the right places. But what makes Deadpool & Wolverine worth talking about is the fact that it rattles cages. It's a punk-rock MCU movie, unafraid of pissing off the people in the front offices. That might not be much, and it likely won't change much of anything, but it feels so good.