Deadpool & Wolverine Is the Best Character Film and Oxygen for Marvel, but Not the Revolution the Genre Needs

Let’s start with the only spoiler you’ll find in this article: If you enjoyed the first two movies in this series, you’ll like Deadpool & Wolverine. You might even like it a lot. Marvel has made a movie that stays true to the elements of the previous adventures of the Merc with a Mouth. The change in production company hasn’t affected the level of violence, dialogues, and bold jokes that the movie is known for. Even having a director like Shawn Levy hasn’t affected the series’ distinctive style. Deadpool & Wolverine is, in short, one hundred percent Deadpool.

This means all the usual ingredients of the anti-hero’s films are there: Characters continuously breaking the fourth wall and who are keenly aware that they’re in a fictional vehicle, extreme violence and deliberately inappropriate jokes, and a heavy use of popular songs on the soundtrack. Marvel has paid close attention to what made the first two movies popular and replicated those elements.

The film has a well-deserved R rating. It’s interesting and exciting to see this level of excess in a Marvel/Disney movie, but the film seems to heavily borrow from the previous two films. However, Marvel seems to be taking a one-year break to distinguish its recent, not-so-good releases (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels) from upcoming projects like The Fantastic Four. This is even more clear with the significant change in tone.

What Marvel does well is the introduction of Deadpool into the multiverse storyline that has been developing over the past few years. Similar to the irreverent tone of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Deadpool & Wolverine is able to weave numerous nods into the plot seamlessly. If you’re worried that the last trailer gave away too much, rest assured that the movie is packed with dozens of surprises. The multiverse concept paves the way for both significant challenges and exciting discoveries in the film.

Mutant Multiverse

Without revealing too much, the encounter between Deadpool and Wolverine is sparked by a disruption in the multiverse, pulling the mercenary out of retirement. While it’s hard to explain without giving away much, the film’s opening sets the tone with clever and visually stunning credits. Both mutants embark on a mission to save the multiverse, crossing paths with characters like X-23 from Logan. Wait a second: Didn’t Wolverine die in Logan?

You’ll understand this when you see the film. However, beware of the fact that Deadpool & Wolverine focuses heavily on cameo appearances and references, making it less accessible for casual viewers. While some cameos are truly impressive (but not a Robert-Downey-Jr-kind-of-impressive), the movie eventually feels like a collection of slow-motion shots with obscured faces. Long-time Marvel fans will be thrilled by many of the cameos, whereas those who joined the fandom in Endgame may find themselves less engaged.

We don’t mind fan service when it’s done tastefully, but in Deadpool & Wolverine, it feels like watching the class bully constantly make jokes. The film relentlessly mocks Marvel’s big failures, including minor heroes, box office flops, and casting mistakes. It also pays homage to blockbuster movies and corporate giants. Deadpool & Wolverine tries to be radical and provocative, given its circumstances (it was a Fox property acquired by Disney which needed a failsafe way to engage fans), but it ends up feeling more like a department store ad for the latest punk fashion.

In reality, Deadpool and Wolverine is a harmless, daring movie. It thinks it’s constantly pushing boundaries, but it pays homage not to heroes and their creators as it should, but to brands and franchises. This is evident in the unsettling post-credits sequence, which may be the worst in Marvel’s history, signaling that even Deadpool has been tamed. Is that a problem? Not at all. If you enjoy Marvel’s most self-referential display of movie cards, then Deadpool & Wolverine is for you.

Deadpool & Wolverine is the best of the character’s three films, possibly because of its multiverse-appropriate plot justification, which Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Madness, a better film, didn’t need. It also inadvertently serves as a vindication of disparate, impossible, and secondary superhero teams. If you prefer the Defenders or the Champions to the Avengers, you’ll find a reason here to long for a movie that Marvel will likely never make.

Undeniably, the film is a machine gun of less obvious, more savage, more unexpected jokes and gags, many of which land successfully. There’s no accounting for taste when it comes to this movie. The humor is shameless and the best dialogue works wonders, largely due to Ryan Reynolds’s portrayal of the character. The question that arises is whether this is enough to save Marvel from itself.

This article was written by John Tones and originally published in Spanish on Xataka.

Image | Disney

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