Today, the only Marvel Cinematic Universe film of 2024 hits the big screen: Deadpool & Wolverine, the third entry in a franchise started by a rival studio. Directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, the long-awaited third Deadpool film sees Wade Wilson team up with another universe’s Wolverine, fulfilling the dreams of Marvel fans everywhere. Unfortunately, the lack of thought put into the film beyond that logline results in the most disappointing entry in the Deadpool series to date.
[Warning: Minor spoilers ahead for Deadpool & Wolverine.]
A multiverse of missteps for Deadpool & Wolverine
Don’t get me wrong. Deadpool & Wolverine is a fun theatrical experience, especially in a room full of cheering fans. But as many viewers have begun to notice, that’s kind of all there is to a multiverse-focused film like this one. Beneath the dozens of (very fun) cameos stringing the razor-thin plot together, there’s very little in Deadpool & Wolverine that actually captures your attention.
For a superhero film with a relatively short runtime (2 hours and 7 minutes), Deadpool & Wolverine sags like an old mattress once our heroes meet the main villain. I was checking my watch at one hour in, hoping the movie could turn itself around in the second half. While the third act was fun and the finale was pretty good, it was too little, too late after a meandering first two acts that did nothing to flesh out the villain or make us care about this new Wolverine.
It doesn’t help that the plot hinges on Wade and Vanessa’s breakup, a worn-out trope that was particularly disappointing to see here after their loving relationship was the strongest part of the first two Deadpool films. Wade’s entire character arc centering on the reason they split simply doesn’t work. It’s unbelievable that the couple would end their relationship based on something that was never an issue in the previous films and so soon after the events of Deadpool 2, where they were engaged, planning a family, and Wade literally turned back time to save Vanessa’s life.
In fact, Deadpool & Wolverine is easily comparable to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Both films brush off the strongest aspects of the first two movies, including the main hero’s supporting characters. Instead, they get lost in the endless possibilities of building a cinematic universe to the detriment of their plot and character arcs, and create messy conclusions to previously solid film series.
Certain aspects of the plot of Deadpool & Wolverine are also far too similar to the first season of Loki, but at least that series properly developed its characters and was much more visually interesting than this $200 million movie.
Dafne Keen as Laura/X-23
The perfect example of how undercooked Deadpool & Wolverine is would be the inclusion of Dafne Keen’s Laura/X-23, a fan-favorite character from Logan. Her appearance in the film was revealed in the final trailer last week, which Kevin Feige said was due to Disney’s desire to promote the emotional core of the film and Keen’s desire to attend the world premiere.
The confusing part is that there’s no emotional core to be found with X-23. She has a short conversation with Logan, gets one close-up during an action scene, and is otherwise relegated to looking cool in the background. It’s a strange choice for a character with such strong emotional ties to Wolverine and standout action sequences in Logan, and it’s this approach to the film that makes the entire production suffer.
Heroes, villains and a cameo fest in Deadpool & Wolverine
Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool is as hilarious as ever. The jokes in Deadpool & Wolverine are pretty good and they all stuck the landing. The standout sequence in the film is the opening credits, which are energetic and put me in a great mood. However, the events taking place in the opening credits may rub some Marvel fans the wrong way and certainly felt distasteful to a certain degree. It was an excellent sequence despite that, and it’s the most the movie comes to feeling like the first two Deadpool films.
Hugh Jackman is back as (a) Wolverine, and it’s incredible to finally see him in a comic-accurate costume. His character doesn’t really click until the third act, since this isn’t the Logan we know and love, but his action scenes are still pretty glorious. I enjoyed the finale and how our two heroes become a true team when it matters most.
Emma Corrin’s Cassandra Nova is an intriguing villain and one who deserved a lot more screen time. Cassandra also starts to click in the third act, but unfortunately, so little time is spent on her character that she feels more like a minor obstacle instead of a threat, nor does she have a strongly defined motivation to hook viewers and keep them interested. What little backstory she does have comes too close for comfort to Sylvie’s problem with the TVA in Loki.
The endless cameos are very fun and some were totally unexpected. They run the gamut from minor 616 MCU characters to (mostly) Fox Marvel characters and plenty of Deadpool variants. Most of them don’t have much screen time and barely participate in action sequences, though. It’s nice to see them, but it makes them feel like Band-Aids applied in an attempt to keep a sinking ship afloat.
Deadpool’s supporting cast appears for only a few scenes (with key characters like Zazie Beetz’s Domino missing). It’s nice to see them back, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that the film would feel like a true sequel if only they had been allowed to actually go on a third adventure with Wade Wilson.
Why Deadpool & Wolverine stumbles
It truly feels like Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Shawn Levy thought fans would be happy just seeing Deadpool and Wolverine on screen together with some fun Easter eggs sprinkled in, and so they gave up on writing the rest of the script. Unfortunately, simply seeing the characters interact isn’t enough to support an entire movie.
If Deadpool & Wolverine featured the original Wolverine from Fox’s X-Men film series, that might have been enough for a fun cinematic adventure. But with the original Logan dead, and a random multiversal version going on this journey, we don’t have the history with the character necessary to just kick back and have fun regardless of the thin plot and little character development.
MCU creators are relying too much on the cameo crutch and brand recognition to support their half-baked ideas and lazy execution. Deadpool & Wolverine is the most egregious example to date, making Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness look like an Oscar nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay in comparison.
The similarities to Loki (in plot, but not in cinematography and production design despite visiting the same in-universe locations) and shared problems with several mediocre MCU films from the past few years, cements that this may not be a simple rough patch for Marvel Studios. Deadpool & Wolverine proves that they’ve simply lost their touch.
If you’re a Marvel fan, you’ll definitely want to see Deadpool & Wolverine in theaters. But if you’re like me, you may not want to go for a second viewing any time soon.
Defying all expectations, Deadpool & Wolverine manages to steer the Deadpool trilogy off a cliff in the pursuit of making fans cheer for Hugh Jackman one more time. This is not a last hurrah for the Fox X-Men universe but more of a deflated gasp. Sadly fitting for a franchise that never quite found its footing and perhaps never will, even under the guidance of Marvel Studios.
Deadpool & Wolverine is now playing in theaters. Are you checking it out this weekend? Let us know what you think on social media @mycosmiccircus!
