Deadpool & Wolverine

by Mike McGranaghan

Deadpool & Wolverine is the Airplane! of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie is stuffed with silly in-jokes, references, and bits of meta comedy. Everything Marvel-related is a target. The original Deadpool and its sequel Deadpool 2 utilized similar humor. This third installment takes it to an extreme, though. Despite an effort to infuse a hint of emotion during the last act, it’s basically a non-stop joke-a-thon that exists to deconstruct everything we know about superhero films. A little too much? Perhaps, although it’s hard not to be awed by how hard it bites the hand that feeds it.

A plot synopsis seems useless, since the story exists only as a framework for all the self-referential shenanigans. The overall gist is that Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) wants to prevent his timeline from being destroyed. This entails finding a multiverse version of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to join him on a trek through the Void, a wasteland for all the Marvel stuff that tanked or never reached fruition. There, they encounter Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), the megalomaniacal twin sister of Charles Xavier who rules the Void with an iron fist.

Early scenes in Deadpool & Wolverine are funny, but the picture truly takes off once the heroes hit the Void. That’s because it has its cake and eats it too. Many gags are aimed at the Marvel movies made by the now-defunct 20th Century Fox, several of which didn’t exactly satisfy fans. Others deal with figures who declined in popularity, never made it past the casting rumor stage, and so on. Later, however, there’s an effort to give these maligned or faded characters some redemption. The best scenes work to restore their reputations. Multiple famous actors appear in cameos, game to be in on the gag while also quite clearly happy to get a do-over. It’s actually kind of sweet.

Not much else in the movie could be called sweet. There are vicious, bloody slapstick fight scenes. There are boundary-pushing jokes that touch on everything from substance abuse to child molestation. There are potshots taken at Disney’s squeaky-clean reputation (Disney owns Marvel), plus creative uses of the F word. The R rating is most definitely earned. Deadpool often refers to himself as “Marvel Jesus,” a self-designation that might ruffle a few feathers. If you thought this first Disney-released installment would be watered down, rest assured it is not. Taking a no-holds-barred approach allows the Marvel-bashing jokes to achieve an extra level of hilarity.

Reynolds co-wrote the screenplay with four other writers, including director Shawn Levy (Free Guy). He’s unafraid to make himself the butt of jokes – and yes, that includes taking aim at his much-mocked appearance as a version of Deadpool in the post-credits scene of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. His distinct form of wisecracking is again perfectly utilized. The scene-stealer is nevertheless Jackman, who smartly plays Wolverine just as straight as he did in Logan. Watching him intensely go through comic insanity with Deadpool provides huge laughs. The actor deserves credit for his willingness to upend the meaningful death Wolverine previously received onscreen.

Deadpool & Wolverine is so laser-focused on satirizing all things Marvel that there’s really not much else to it. The two previous films at least had a pretense of story, whereas this is nothing more than a 127-minute string of references for MCU fans to salivate over. Still, Reynolds and Jackman are terrific, the jokes are often funny, and the cameos are satisfying. It’s not the best Deadpool movie, but the MCU has reached a point where it needs to have the piss taken out of it. On that count, bullseye.

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