A fun aspect of the past quarter century of superhero cinema is how the live-action films have retroactively affected the comic book source material. Prior to Samuel L. Jackson’s iconic take on Nick Fury the character had a very different look. So different, in fact, that he was previously played by David Hasselhoff in a made-for-TV movie. But now the Nick Fury of the page is very much based on Jackson, and the character is that much better for it. Simply put, Jackson is too iconic to deny. Why would we ever go back the character’s comparatively bland origins?
A similar change happened to the most recognizable member of the X-Men, Wolverine. Back in 2000 when the original X-Men film was released, Hugh Jackman was essentially a nobody. Since then he’s become a superstar of the highest caliber. As such, his taller, somewhat softer take on Wolverine has informed subsequent iterations of the source character. He’s so damn good as Logan that he has become the template. So much so that any attempts at recasting him would need to give Wolverine a full makeover. Even so, it’s a hard transition to picture. Hugh Jackman is Wolverine, and unlike the other cinematic X-Men, he has yet to be played by anyone else. Yet the Wolverine of the comics was smaller, angrier, and a smidge less outwardly lovable. Sure, Jackman’s version might chomp a cigar or be dismissive towards kindness, but the Wolverine I grew up with was…nastier.
Deadpool & Wolverine has many difficult masters to serve, the most prominent and challenging being reintroducing Jackman’s Wolverine without undoing the dramatically satisfying denouement of the excellent Logan. The easy path, which the film expectedly traverse, is to just dismiss it in classic Deadpool fashion: He’s back, stop worrying about it, this is supposed to be fun. And really, that would be enough now that we’re all so sick of these damn superhero movies. But where Deadpool & Wolverine goes above and beyond is in allowing Jackman to play the legendary X-Man with an R rated edge. In this movie he’s angrier, less brooding, and downright scary in the ways he dishes out violence. Taller stature be damned, this edition of Wolvie hearkens back to the character’s roots, and Jackman, consummate performer that he is, rises to the challenge in a big way. Yeah, it’s a Deadpool movie, but it’s Wolverine’s show, as it should be.
I won’t get into too many plot details since just about any amount of it would be considered a spoiler, but I’ll give you the general gist.
Deadpool aka Wade Wilson aka the Merc with a Mouth, has been eking out a decidedly less violent existence. He’s working a basic sales job and generally lying low in an effort to better himself and potentially regain the affections of his now ex (Morena Baccarin). He wears a wig (which makes him look oddly like Nick Nolte), and does his best to be a normie. This doesn’t make for much of a movie, which is why he is confronted by the TVA (Time Variance Authority), the multiversal governing body which gained notoriety in Loki. As they tell it, Deadpool’s universe is doomed due to the fact that an “anchor” has recently died. In this case, the anchor was Logan, and Deadpool has been invited by Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfayden) to step outside of his own universe to work for the TVA rather than perish alongside the denizens of his reality.
But Deadpool being Deadpool (with a little desire to do right mixed in) decides not to let his friends disappear into the ether. If losing Logan meant the death of his universe, why not bounce into a few others and find a new Logan to replace him?
Get it? It’s okay if you don’t, the movie will get you where you need to me.
What follows is a bit of a buddy cop adventure, a bit of a standard superhero movie, and a full-on satirization of the excesses of multiversal storytelling. As our titular heroes traverse realities and gather a who’s who of hilarious cameos and Easter eggs, they do so with a thumb (or claw) in the eye of the corporations that took event movies and saturated their output so much that none of us give a shit anymore. I was legitimately surprised by the wealth of shots taken at the expense of the Disney/Marvel brass. It seems like a Deadpool movie pops up every time the general viewer starts to lose interest, functionally letting a little air out of the machine so it can crank along a little longer. Yet despite the very direct lampooning of the form, this time around the Marvel machine is too big for a full deflation. While I emerged from the film with an appreciation for the comedy and some renewed vigor toward the next wave of the MCU (which promises to bring in the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and the term “mutants”), full-on excitement for the next wave still eludes me.
I also had my fingers crossed while I silently prayed for Deadpool to remain on his side of the overall Marvel machine. D&W doesn’t make any promises either way, but let’s hope he remains a third party jester and not a full-fledged asset to Nick Fury’s ever-growing team of supes.
Where I remain most hopeful in this regard is in the depravity of the humor. D&W is overtly filthy, filled to bursting with more fucks and cunts than Disney/Marvel would ever allow in their flagship products. There’s even a running gag where Deadpool strongly desires cocaine, but laments that Disney would never let him blow a line on screen. The stuff that comes out of he and Logan’s mouths is astonishing in its level of crassness, and the violence enacted between them is gloriously bloody and ridiculous. There are multiple times where our leading duo stops the movie dead just to bicker with one another, each time leading to an insane, gory brawl. And since both characters are hard to kill, they go HARD. Multiple sequences had my jaw on the floor in reaction to the images on screen.
That said, much of the film, for all its conceptual excess, looks rather flat. Shawn Levy is a competent director who knows his way around an action sequence well enough, but it’s a step down from what David Leitch put forth with the previous entry. On a beat-to-beat basis it all works wonderfully, but the overall look of the film lacks the identity of the prior entries. This is not a huge complaint, however, given the nature of the film. Namely that, as a parody of the “look for the Easter Eggs” storytelling of the MCU, it aims to raise it all to absurd levels. No single frame doesn’t have some sort of fun callback or deep-cut referential gag crammed into it, and for the most part it never feels like too much of a good thing. It’s the type of movie that demands a second viewing on account of just how much it all is. And since it’s Deadpool, the gaudiness is an asset. It’s all meant to be taken in stride rather than get us jacked up for the next episode in the overall canon.
One running gag, which references Wolverine’s classic yellow and blue suit, calls attention to the idea that superhero movies, at their worst, are afraid to be superhero movies. D&W is a strong reminder that these cinematic larks work best when they’re fun. You’re a superhero, dress like one!!
It’s a smart move to play this entry as loose and silly as possible, but unfortunately it still crumbles a bit under the weight of the larger universe. There’s a tangible sense that the Deadpool franchise wants to have it both ways, and again, I hope that this does not come to fruition. Many years ago I read an article counting down the best metal albums of all time, and the list included both Tenacious D’s debut album and the soundtrack for This is Spinal Tap, citing that no good thing can be great without a loving critical response. They’re absolutely correct in this regard, and Deadpool should always exist as the MCU’s resident pisstaker. An outsider who keeps everyone honest.
At the end of the day, Deadpool & Wolverine delivers as promised, and is chock full of unbridled insanity and fun. Come for the jokes, the cameos, and the gleefully anarchic energy, but stay for Hugh Jackman giving his A-plus-plus game to a project that he could’ve easily phoned in. Also the dog. You will love the dog.
Directed by Shawn Levy
Written by Shawn Levy, Rhett Reese, Ryan Reynolds, Zeb Wells, Paul Wernick (based on the work of Rob Liefeld & Fabian Nicieza)
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Rob Delaney
Rated R, 127 minutes
