To say that I had been looking forward to Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) would have been the understatement of the decade. Considering the astronomical levels of hype within the built-in fanbase and the ever-persisting rumors about cameos from returning legacy characters, I was beyond excited to watch the "Merc with a Mouth" make his official entry into Marvel Studios and Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe after the 20th Century Fox film studio and all its entertainment assets (including the film rights for Deadpool, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four) were acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 2019. Having finally seen the non-family-friendly movie in a theater on its opening day of Friday, July 26th, 2024, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It's not a perfect movie per se, but it's a lot of fun. As usual, here are my spoiler-heavy thoughts on Deadpool & Wolverine.
Deadpool & Wolverine takes place six years after Deadpool 2 (2018), and Wade Wilson, a.k.a. Deadpool (once again played by Ryan Reynolds), has hung up the red-and-black suit and is now working as a used-car salesman after his relationship with his girlfriend Vanessa (played by Morena Carlyse) has fallen apart.
As Wade is celebrating his birthday with his friends (including Vanessa, Negasonic Teenage Warhead (played by Brianna Hildebrand), Colossus (played by Stefan Kapičić), Blind Al (played by Leslie Uggams), Yukio (played by Shioli Kutsuna), and Peter (played by Rob Delaney), among others), armored troops from the Time Variance Authority (TVA for short) (as was featured in the MCU's Disney+ series Loki (2021-2023)) come knocking on his door. He is then whisked away to the TVA's headquarters, where he is introduced to TVA agent Mr. Paradox (played by Matthew Macfadyen), who introduces Wade to the concepts of the Sacred Timeline and the multiverse (including the Marvel Cinematic Universe set on Earth-616). Wade then learns that his universe on Earth-10005 is on the verge of collapse after the death of its key figure or "anchor being", Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman), as depicted in Logan (2017). Paradox intends to implement a "Time Ripper" device to quickly destroy the timeline but offers Wade a chance to play a significant role in the Sacred Timeline on Earth-616.
Not willing to see his universe nor any of his friends and loved ones perish, Wade steals Paradox's TemPad (the TVA's custom device to jump through time) and jumps through various timelines and universes to find a suitable Wolverine variant to save his universe. Wade eventually finds one donning a comic book-accurate yellow-and-blue costume, and what follows is a hysterically raunchy and violent romp with Deadpool and Wolverine, as well as several returning legacy characters to boot (more on them later), much to the delight of comic book movie fans like myself.
First off, the leading duo of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are a perfect onscreen pair regarding their comedic chemistry and characters' shared experiences of grief and loss amidst their characters' clashing personalities; Wade's endlessly snarky and seemingly carefree demeanor literally and metaphorically masks how much he genuinely cares for those he loves, while Logan's immensely rageful and sheer annoyance at Deadpool's jokes masks his equally immense regret over him letting all his fellow X-Men down by drinking at a bar while all his friends were killed by mutant-hunting humans, followed by him killing various people in a state of rage, thus being considered by those around him as the worst Wolverine in the multiverse. Both actors deliver excellent performances here, highlighting the extent to which they love playing their respective characters for the die-hard fans.
The villains are solid in their own right, especially Cassandra Nova (played by Emma Corrin), a mutant living in the Void (a Mad Max-esque wasteland occupied by an all-consuming cloud-like monster called Alioth as introduced in the Loki series and inhabited by obscure remnants of past Marvel projects like the giant ruins of the 20th Century Fox studio logo, and variants of Marvel characters from years past, more on them later), who is the evil twin sister of Professor Charles Xavier, a.ka. Professor X, commands an army of rogues (featuring villains from previous X-Men movies, including Victor Creed, a.k.a. Sabretooth (played by Tyler Mane) from X-Men (2000) and John Allerdyce, a.k.a. Pyro (played by Aaron Stanford) from X2 (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)), and resides in the corpse of Giant-Man (a mega-sized variant of Ant-Man (played by Paul Rudd in the MCU), to which Deadpool quips,
"Huh. Paul Rudd finally aged."
Cassandra exudes enough sadistic creepiness and telekinetic powers to make her a formidable adversary, which is a significant upgrade from the villains of the previous two films (no disrespect to them). Her presence brings to this movie a greater sense of emotional urgency and stakes, as it is eventually revealed that she had made a deal with the TVA to stay in the Void. However, upon being betrayed by Pyro on behalf of Paradox, she travels to Earth-10005 and takes control of the Time Ripper to destroy every timeline save for the Void. Given the current direction of the MCU with its Multiverse Saga, and its use of alternate universe variants to return legacy characters and actors back to the fold, this gives the film additional emotional stakes, which are especially palpable in the third act. Despite the audience knowing that the lead characters will inevitably survive (Deadpool even quips that Disney is "gonna make [Wolverine and Hugh Jackman] do this 'til he's 90"), they have already grown so emotionally attached to the characters throughout the duration of the movie that they cannot bear to see legacy characters die or get killed off.
The other villain in this picture is the mysterious Mr. Paradox, who initially offers Wade a chance to join the MCU (to which Wade walks up to the nearest camera, grabs the off-camera boom mic, and says, "Suck it, Fox! I'm going to Disneyland!", and headbutts the camera's lens), only to tell him that he will have to leave everything and everyone he knows and loves for the universe they inhabit is dying. It is also revealed that Paradox's actions are off-the-books, as evidenced by the actions of the TVA agents coming after Deadpool during the opening credits, and his constant pursuit of Deadpool, ultimately resulting in Hunter B-15 (played by Wunmi Mosaku, reprising her role from the Loki series) learning of Paradox's operation and subsequently arresting him for his actions at the end.
One significant factor in why much of this movie works is Shawn Levy's enthusiastic direction, which emphasizes the characters' humor and heart, practical effects and in-camera stunts, and more than enough fan service to please hardcore comic book movie fans like myself. Although I wished the movie featured a little more fan service to please my inner nerd, I was ultimately very satisfied with this movie and its handling of the lead characters.
Speaking of whom, right from the get-go, Deadpool references the time that has passed since his last appearance in 2018, the finalization of Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox the following year, and whether or not this movie would dishonor the continuity of prior X-Men films like Logan. He then proceeds to irreverently and literally dig up the adamantium-laced corpse of Wolverine from Logan from his grave to crack jokes about Hugh Jackman being persuaded by Disney to return to play Wolverine again despite having publicly stated that he had retired from playing the character for good. Suddenly, a group of TVA agents appears, which triggers the hilarious opening credits, during which Deadpool brutally murders the agents using the bones from the Logan Wolverine's skeleton, while dancing to "Bye Bye Bye" from *NSYNC.
The hilarity does not end there, for during a montage of Deadpool hopping from universe to universe searching for an appropriate Wolverine variant set to "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and The News (as featured in Back to the Future (1985)), Wade encounters some memorable variants, including a Wolverine with the character's comic-accurate height of 5 foot 3 inches (Hugh Jackman is 6 foot 2 inches), a gambling alter-ego known as "Patch" that wears an eye patch and white tuxedo, a variant wearing a brown and tan costume that fights the Hulk (which version of the Hulk is not clear, as we don't get a good look at the face), and one variant played by actor Henry Cavill dubbed "Cavillrine". This leads to this especially memorable line from Deadpool, which takes aim at the head honchos at Warner Bros. and DC Studios, who notoriously underutilized and ultimately dumped Henry Cavill and his DC Extended Universe (DCEU) iteration of Superman in favor of James Gunn's reboot within his new DC Universe:
"You know, from behind you look a little bit like Henry...OH, MY F***! The Cavillrine. The legends are true. And may I say sir, on behalf of all humanity, this just feels right! We'll treat you so much better than those s***f***s down the street."
The violence is not toned down in any way compared to the previous Deadpool films, which should serve as a relief to fans of the first two movies. It is highly evident in the third-act battle between Deadpool, Logan, and the Deadpool Corps (more on them later), a single-shot fight scene slowly panning from left to right as the duo bloodily stab, shoot, and decapitate the countless members of the Deadpool Corps, set to Madonna's "Like a Prayer", only for them to regenerate at the end of the fight. While highly entertaining, I winced occasionally at the sheer level of gore displayed onscreen, especially given that this is a self-acknowledged Disney movie.
Not only is the R-rated violence intact and filled with more f-bombs and bloody gore than its predecessors, but the supporting characters remain themselves personality-wise. However, several of the supporting characters from the first two films, like Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Colossus, and Yukio, are disappointingly reduced to glorified cameos. However, Peter gets a little more screen time, which isn't a complete loss.
Moving onto the subject of the characters, since I mentioned the variants of Wolverine, there are obviously going to be variants of Deadpool, including one called Nicepool (also played by Ryan Reynolds), a long-haired variant without Deadpool's signature super-healing abilities or scarred face. Also featured are a dog variant of Deadpool named Mary Puppins, a.k.a. Dogpool (played by viral sensation, Peggy, dubbed "Britain's Ugliest Dog"), a female variant named Ladypool (voiced by Ryan Reynolds' real-life spouse Blake Lively), a cowboy variant called Cowboypool (voiced by Matthew McConaughey), and two of Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively's children, Inez and Olin Reynolds, portray Kidpool and Babypool, respectively, among others.
Without further ado, here are my thoughts on the returning legacy characters. During the second act of the movie, which is set in the Void, Deadpool and Wolverine are taken in by a resistance group made up of Laura Kinney, a.k.a. X-23 (played by Dafne Keen) from Logan, Elektra Natchios (played by Jennifer Garner) from 20th Century Fox's Daredevil (2003) and Elektra (2005), Eric Brooks, a.k.a. Blade (played by Wesley Snipes) from New Line Cinema's Blade film trilogy (1998-2004), and Remy LeBeau, a.k.a. Gambit (played by Channing Tatum) from Fox's canceled Gambit movie (whose reveal received the most applause of the returning characters from the theater). Not only was I thrilled at seeing all of them onscreen together, but all four of them work extremely well with each personality-wise and comedically. Some of my favorite lines from the movie come from these returning characters, like this heartwarming exchange between Logan and X-23:
Logan: "Whoever you think I am, you got the wrong guy."
X-23: "You were always the wrong guy, until you weren't."
On a more comedic note, one of my favorite jokes from this movie comes from Wesley Snipes' Blade, who, when traveling to Cassandra's hideout, says,
"There's only one Blade! Only ever gonna be one Blade!"
To which Deadpool responds by looking at the camera, clearly taking a shot at Marvel Studios and its continued production troubles on its reboot of Blade set to star Mahershala Ali as the titular character.
On a personal note, my favorite cameo from this movie was that of Chris Evans' (who had previously portrayed Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America in the MCU) cameo, who, when his face was first revealed, I audibly cheered for whom I thought was Cap, only for him to later yell "Flame on!" and reveal himself to be reprising his role as Johnny Storm, a.k.a. Human Torch from Fox's Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) by igniting himself on fire and flying through the air, which threw much of the audience, including myself (and Deadpool, too) for a complete loop. Not only does Evans' Human Torch have quite the potty mouth, but it gets him killed by Cassandra in a visually graphic way by Cassandra having his skin telekinetically ripped off and his body collapsing in on itself.
Having said all of this, not everything about Deadpool & Wolverine works. Sometimes, the number of jokes from Deadpool can get overwhelming, which can be a problem for some people. I wasn't too bothered by the relentlessly snarky remarks, but I did think that the laughs could have been spread out more evenly throughout the movie. Perhaps this is not an issue with the screenplay, but rather with the level of adlibs from Ryan Reynolds. Then again, the seemingly endless barrage of jokes is a signature of Deadpool's character, so realistically, they shouldn't surprise me. This is not to say that the film lacked dramatic moments with minimal jokes, for there were several effective ones, and when they set in, they paid off quite well, like a fight between Wade and Logan inside a van set in a forest.
All in all, Deadpool & Wolverine is a lot of fun, not only from the perspective of a comic book movie fan but also from that of someone genuinely interested in seeking filmmakers who are in touch with what fans of a blockbuster film franchise want to see and knows how to effectively deliver and go beyond the fans' already-high expectations. Before I forget, the post-credit montage and tribute to past Marvel movies like Fox's X-Men, Daredevil, Elektra, and Fantastic Four films, and New Line Cinema's Blade trilogy made up of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews set to Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" is an especially heartfelt farewell to that bygone era. Hopefully, some (if not all) of the actors from that era will be open to reprising their roles in the MCU, for I am having way too much fun imagining the endless possibilities of character interactions and story arcs. Will this film satisfy everyone? That is hard to say. However, I can say that this R-rated and fourth-wall-breaking entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the shot in the arm this franchise desperately needed after several years of hits and misses, both box office and quality-wise, post-Avengers: Endgame (2019). More of this, please.
Final Score: 9 out of 10
Comentarios