Deadpool & Wolverine review: Superhero smash brings the laughs in comic book comedy treat
OPINION
What can you expect from a double-billing of Wolverine and Deadpool? NZ Herald’s Ethan Sills reviews the latest addition to Marvel’s cinematic canon as Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman join forces for the new superhero flick.
It’s impossible to discuss the Marvel Cinematic Universe these days without addressing its decline. After Avengers: Endgame shattered box office records in 2019 and somewhat cohesively tied together and wrapped up a 22-film-long narrative, it felt like the superhero franchise could do no wrong.
Since then though, the blockbuster behemoth has started to collapse under its own weight. The arrival of Disney+ forced Marvel Studios to introduce dozens of new characters across multiple TV shows, making it difficult for even the most committed fans to keep up, and clearly stretching the creative prowess of the behind-the-scenes team. A MCU movie was once a guaranteed critical and commercial hit, but 2023 delivered some of the worst reviews and box office results in the company’s history.
With an air of scepticism surrounding the franchise, there’s a lot of pressure riding on Deadpool & Wolverine, the studio’s one cinematic release this year and one of their biggest-ever gambles. Not only is it their first R-rated movie, this is the first MCU X-Men-centric movie, after Disney acquired 20th Century Fox and allowed the Marvel cinematic worlds to unite. Botching this monumental moment that fans have been waiting decades for would have only worsened the franchise’s decline.
Mercifully, thanks to strong performances by Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), propped up by the Deadpool franchise’s best mix of fourth-wall-shattering humour and over-the-top violence yet, Deadpool & Wolverine is easily the most entertaining movie that Marvel has released since Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021.
Set six years after the last movie, we start with Wade Wilson having ditched the red Deadpool mask, striving to find some purpose in his life after being rejected as an Avenger. Quickly, purpose is thrust upon him when he is hauled into the Time Variance Authority (from the Loki Disney+ series if you have time for a binge-watch), and learns his universe is dying prematurely due to the death of its “anchor point” - Jackman’s Wolverine, depicted back in 2017′s Logan.
Rushing to save his world, Deadpool goes on a multiverse-hopping quest to find a Wolverine to save his universe, but only finds one deemed “the worst” one out there. The two end up stuck in The Void, where unwanted beings are cast aside, leading to a dystopian, road-trip comedy as Deadpool and Wolverine attempt to get back home.
Don’t worry too much about the plot though, it’s largely inconsequential. Emma Corrin and Matthew MacFadyen are welcome additions to the franchise as villains Cassandra Nova and Mr Paradox, devilishly chewing the scenery every chance they get, but as is typical for most MCU movies, their respective schemes are largely redundant to the overall movie.
The two big attractions here are the relationship between Deadpool and Wolverine, and the meta riffs on the end of the 20th Century Fox universe that runs through the movie, and your enjoyment of this movie will hinge largely on how much you enjoy those two elements.
Reynolds and Jackman, one sarcastic and snarky, the other stoic and repressed, are the perfect odd couple with an easy rapport. Reynolds’ shtick as Deadpool had worn thin by the end of the second movie, but he delivers his best performance as the character this time around. Jackman delivered a franchise-best performance in Logan, and this comedy-heavy script can’t possibly reach those same heights, but he brings the emotional centre of the movie and a different, bitter sense of humour that allows his character to fit nicely into the movie.
The script is as focused on delivering a meta-commentary on superhero movies, the MCU, and as a eulogy for Fox’s superhero franchise as it is about the two main characters. The theme of searching for purpose is fitting as Reynolds and producer Kevin Feige find a way to bring Deadpool - a character Fox was reluctant to give a movie to in the first place - and the X-Men in with the other heroes. There are no signs of how that will play out fully yet, but the snarky script does allow the franchise to self-reflect on a difficult few years and potentially reset fan expectations.
That meta commentary feeds through into the selection of cameos and callbacks throughout the movies. No spoilers here, but the writers incorporate a surprising number of characters into the final product without it being overly grating.
They may contribute to some jokes that will be too niche for the average viewer, and really the super casual viewer will struggle to settle in. If you can understand the references and get through the jokes, Deadpool & Wolverine more than delivers, offering a return to form for the MCU and a fitting swansong for the Fox films. The big question for Marvel is if they are able to deliver a hit that doesn’t rely on nostalgic cameos and fanboy hype to win back general audiences.
Deadpool & Wolverine is in cinemas now.