Marvel has been welcoming its neglected stepchildren into the MCU over the last couple of years, reacquiring properties as its Disney overlord marches towards total global domination. Its latest display, one Deadpool & Wolverine, is the awkward one in the bunch out of a myriad of character-focused franchise IP that will carry over from a previous world. Does all of that sound boring? It should. It’s nothing but a spew of business property jargon that is unfortunately tied to fandom these days. Everyone is an insider, everyone understands rights ownership, and everyone is really loud about it.
Deadpool’s response? In case you didn’t know, the character is aware he’s in a movie. “Suck it, Fox, I’m going to Disneyland!” he cries before headbutting the camera and running off to bigger and “better” things.
I’ve never really been all that huge on Ryan Reynolds. He’s got one thing he does really well and it hasn’t really been my thing. He’s mouthy, he’s got an immature sense of humor, and everything about him as a character screams out insecurities with all of the subtlety of a bull elephant pleasuring an ox in an antique store. Luckily the character of Deadpool is about as blunt as that sentence, making it the role that Reynolds was born for. Rob Liefeld’s mouthy, fourth-wall breaking comic book character is an obnoxious goof but in Reynolds hands I think it’s a match made in heaven.
This schtick has worked once before, allowing for a silly but lackluster sequel that was far more substance (think secretions) than substance (think quality). I had almost no hopes for Deadpool & Wolverine, partially due to my irritation with that character and partially due to the fact that Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine got a lovely sendoff. Deadpool’s third at-bat makes use of both of these things to create a story that’s not only hilarious but way more heartfelt than I honestly thought possible. I don’t think this is a great movie but I have to admit that I had a great time watching it.
And why not? Jackman is always good for grit and gravitas even if the script makes him struggle for it. Shawn Levy, here directing the best work of his career despite most of it looking like it was shot in a Best Buy parking lot, has written a love letter to an era of superhero movies that were a dear part of my childhood. It’s got enough dick and pegging jokes to eat up a 90 minute runtime, but as Deadpool reminds us, “audiences are used to long runtimes,” and this goes about 30 minutes further to make sure viewers give a shit when the credits role. The self-awareness can wear, but it’s part of the point. Do I always like it? Absolutely not. In fact sometimes it’s a right bag of assholes. But there’s enough true earnestness here (handled deftly by Jackman and a whole bunch of surprise guests) that it manages to avoid being embarrassed of itself. And that’s saying a lot, given that Deadpool (Reynolds?) soils himself on purpose. Even Reynold’s joke about getting a hard-on watching his wife’s Gossip Girl (he HAD to have written that one) is quite fun and got an honest guffaw out of me.
And we find Deadpool in a really embarrassing spot when we start, so that runtime is gonna have to do some heavy lifting. He’s been shut out by The Avengers, his best gal has left him because he can’t accomplish jack shit, and it just seems like everything he loves he’s lost. Except his friends, they’re all still around. Sure, he’s a terrible salesman at a chain car lot, but he’s still got coworkers that care about him. But the TVA (Time Variance Authority, see Loki on Disney+ for explanation) have decided it’s best to move him to the main Marvel timeline. Why? Because Logan happened, and now the most important character in the Fox Marvel timeline is gone so we gotta go because this universe is going to die.
Deadpool doesn’t like that, so he decides to find himself a new Wolverine. Hilarity ensues and the odd couple wind up in The Void, a limbo-like existence that houses all characters from all timelines that the TVA has deemed unworthy of continuing. This place is ruled by Cassandra Nova, twin sister to Charles Xavier and frankly the best performance in the movie. The Crown‘s Emma Corrin is all rage, body horror, mouthy commentary, and birdlike energy. This new Logan, deemed “the worst Wolverine” by everyone, will have to cooperate with his obnoxious sidekick to save that asshole’s universe.
I’m sort of astonished by the lowered stakes here. Sure, a universe is ending, but the only thing we really care about are these two numbskulls and the small group of people they need to save. It’s astounding that we can just have a self-contained story about the evils of hungry middle-management types. It’s a fun breakaway from most modern Marvel movies, where our heroes must come together to defeat a column of light before they play an ad for the next Marvel installment.
That lighthearted tone really is the best part of this rather raunchy little flick, focusing on having a good time instead of saving anything. Even the fights between our two titular heroes have no stakes as they both regenerate after any damage, making the dialogue much better. “Grab your special sock, nerds,” is spoken before a rather repetitive fight wherein both combatants are stabbed over and over again. It doesn’t matter how the fight goes (though the fact that it’s held in front of the crumbled ruins of the 20th Century Fox logo is pretty funny). What matters is that Deadpool said the thing before the thing happened. It’s an in-joke that takes the piss out of the whole thing. Normally this would irritate me, but because this action is laden with cameos and references that seem designed in a lab to appeal to me I think it pretty much works. It’s a love-letter to the X-Men films of my youth, warts and all, and I think it made me appreciate them that much more.
Is Deadpool & Wolverine the savior of Marvel? No. Is it even that great of a movie? Not really. Was it a blast to watch? Absolutely. Time will tell if this thing is going to make any real impact and Deadpool even informs Logan that he’s, “joining at a bit of a low point,” but I laughed. Sometimes that’s all I need, a good laugh.
Oh, and Deadpool informs Hugh Jackman that Disney’s, “gonna make him do this till he’s ninety.” A movie that knows itself and was allowed enough potshots to be this self-aware feels so fresh. The only thing truly off-limits? Booger sugar, at least according to Kevin Fiege.
Deadpool & Wolverine is taking up most of the screens at your local multiplex.
WRITE DRUNK; EDIT DRUNK 