Deadpool and Wolverine: Marvel is Saved Again?

I recently watched Deadpool & Wolverine, the newest movie in the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since Avengers Endgame, online discourse surrounding Marvels success seems to be if a movie/tv show does bad, that Marvel has finally fallen and that no one wants superhero content anymore, only for a well liked and mostly successful project to follow it and for people to proclaim that it ‘Saved the MCU’. This is not a singular occurence either, to name a few examples: After Eternals released to middling reviews and reception, it was followed by Spider-Man No Way Home, a critical and commercial success that had people exclaiming Eternals was a fluke. After Thor Love & Thunder underwhelmed audiences with it’s ‘MCU Humor’ and had people proclaiming that the MCU formula is dead, it was followed by Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, another commercial and critical success.

Deadpool & Wolverine follows this trend once again, after The Marvels ‘bombed’ and Echo wasnt received particularly well, people looked to Deadpool & Wolverine to ‘save’ the MCU again. But instead this movie proves what most rational thinking people have always known, that when you produce as many movies as Marvel does, for as many different audience types that they try to cater too, you’re eventually going to make some bad movies. The new idea that everything pre-endgame was perfect and Marvels quality has only dipped because of “Superhero Fatigue” is not only a little silly, but it’s also easily disproved. There were plenty of contentious and otherwise boring movies in the MCU long before Endgame. So no, Deadpool & Wolverine did not save the MCU, but it did line Marvels pockets even further, as it passes  $1bn at the time of this review.

Okay so if it doesn’t save the MCU, is it any good? Yes the movie is good, if that’s all you wanted to hear then there you go, the movie is good, I liked it and judging by the review scores and box office, I’m not alone. I was suprised at how much I ended up liking this movie, I enjoyed the first two Deadpool movies, I don’t think i’ve delved into Tim Millers (DP 1 Director) filmography much to make judgements but  David Leitch ( DP2 Director) is one of my favourite action directors, and I think he’s got a good eye for Deadpools action and comedy. So when I heard they were going with Shawn Levy, I was a little skeptical, his brand of comedy and action i’d seen recently in The Adam Project and Free Guy didnt really feel to me like they’d suit Deadpool despite both movies starring Ryan Reynolds, who is basically just Deadpool in real life. I’m not the biggest fan of Reynolds either, I find him mostly inoffensive and his comedy style a bit repetetive, but for what it’s worth, I think he’s a great Deadpool and that this character really works for him, but Deadpool & Wolverine still managed to surpass my expectations.

I think the action is done pretty well for the most part in this movie, the multiple fights between Deadpool & Wolverine are my favourites, but the long street shot vs the Deadpool Corps is also a pretty noteworthy scene, even if it does end with Hugh Jackman doing a CGI street fighter character select move. The movies action I think is on par with if not better than the previous two movies and is a decent cut above most of the action from Marvel. For what it’s worth I think both Deadpool & Wolverine lend themselves to a bit more interesting action because they don’t need every hit to miss them, they can take any amount of slashes, stabs and bullets and come out on top, which is different from most movies where the protagonists narrowly avoid every strike in increasingly unrealistic ways. The brutality of this movies action is also used effectively with its R rating and there is a definite increase in violence/gore than the MCU, but it’s still considerably tamer than most R rated movies.

I’m not particularly difficult to please when it comes to comedy, I found the first two Deadpool movies reasonably funny, with some jokes that didn’t land but that’s par for the course with comedy movies. I found a lot of the humor in this movie landed for me however, between the references to the MCU and the FOX universe that came before, Deadpool had a massive pool of references he could make, and he didn’t waste any of them, I found Blade particularly hilarious and was very surprised to see Snipes back after rumours that him and Reynolds didn’t get along ( A rumor the movie cleverly jokes at) I think the comedy is a large reason why the movie is grossing so well at the box office, it’s the type of comedy you can take your friends, parents or partners to see, and though references like Ice Skating Uphill ( and the motherfuckers who are still trying to do it) might fly over their heads, the humor is pretty standard otherwise and will hold up pretty well for future rewatches.

The movie also largely does not push forward any MCU narratives, it doesn’t have a post credit scene you must see for the future movies to make sense, and it doesnt require you to have seen 30 years of superhero movies even if some of the references won’t land if you haven’t. Deadpool & Wolverine feels like a movie that rewards people who are into the superhero genre passionately, but none of the obscure references like Chaning Tatums production hell or the very existence of Jennifer Garners Elektra are necessary to understand what is going on, Gambit & Elektra are introduced effectively and at no point require the audience to really know the history behind the two characters.  I keep up with the MCU and superhero content in general well, so almost every reference was caught, but I'm sure there are people that saw things in the background of the void that even I missed.

The villain Cassandra Nova is largely forgettable, but she does not get in the way of dynamite performances from both Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds. Deadpool and Wolverine is a very fun movie that isin’t showing any  sign of slowing down in the box office any time soon, if you’re somehow one of the few people that hasn’t seen the movie yet, you should watch it, whether you’re a fledgling MCU fan, a comic book reader or just a fan of comedy movies, Deadpool & Wolverines broad appeal will be sure that you’ll leave the cinema satisfied. For great comedy, good action & solid performances from its two leads. Deadpool & Wolverine earns a comfy 8 on Jays Judgement.