Movie Review: Deadpool & Wolverine

The Merc with the Mouth and Wolverine have entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe in truly spectacular fashion. Deadpool & Wolverine is an awesome comic book movie. An action-packed blockbuster that is full of bullets, blood, humor, and even some heart. It will satisfy the cravings of the IP-obsessed who are looking for cameos and easter eggs as well as be an entertaining watch for those who like big summer movies with movie stars at the center.

I don’t want to spoil Deadpool & Wolverine one bit, so I will try and keep the plot synopsis brief and simple. Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) live on Earth reality 10005 while most of Marvel Cinematic Universe takes place on Earth reality 616. The events of the previous Deadpool movies and all of Hugh Jackman’s X-Men movies have taken place on Earth 10005. When Wolverine died at the end of Logan, it caused a chain reaction that is threatening the extinction of Earth 10005. Deadpool, in an attempt to save the ones he loves on Earth 10005 and become part of the Avengers on Earth 616, goes on a mission to bring a new Wolverine back to his Earth before it is gone.

That’s all I’m going to give you. There is a lot more to the plot but getting any deeper might ruin any surprises in the film, and believe me, there are several surprises. There are several unexpected cameos in the film that had me audibly say, “holy shit” when they appeared. I do not get overly excited about cameos in superhero movies, but the ones in Deadpool & Wolverine are spectacular. What I liked most about them is that they weren’t just cameos for cameos’ sake to make comic nerds and IP fans happy, but they mattered to the plot of the film helped with the growth of the characters, and even offered closure in some ways.

One surprise I can reveal to you is how surprised I was by how violent and vulgar the movie was. I know it’s Deadpool and I have seen the previous films, so I knew what these movies were like, but him entering the MCU, a Disney-owned company, I was a little hesitant that they were going to water him down a little bit. That is not the case and in fact, it felt like they upped the violence and blood even more just to shove it in Disney’s face. The opening credits fight scene, set to a classic boy band tune, is hilariously absurd and sets the tone for the movie right away: Deadpool isn’t changing, but Marvel certainly is.

Through everything in Deadpool & Wolverine, the cameos, the action, the time-jumping, and the insane amount of needle drops, what makes this film as good as it is is the performances by Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. These are two men who were made for these roles. Reynolds is as quick and wise-cracking as he’s ever been but adds a layer of depth to Deadpool in his pursuit of wanting to become something great. And Jackman, rocking the Adamantium claws once again, doesn’t miss a beat. He brings the physicality we know and love from him and is the emotional center of the film as this Wolverine is haunted by a past decision and he must learn to move on and become a hero again. Both characters bring depth to a film that could have been completely soulless and empty but instead is an interesting road movie and hero’s journey. Reynolds and Jackman have great chemistry together and seeing Deadpool and Wolverine fight each other is fun but seeing them team up will slap a gleeful smile on your face.

After the credits and post-credits scenes of Deadpool & Wolverine had finished, I found myself excited for the MCU going forward. The film ends on a note that makes it seem like everything is straightened out and that the universe is now refocused. I don’t know what is going to happen and I don’t know what direction the MCU is going to go in, but this is the most excited I have been about the MCU in a long time.

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