Directed by Shawn Levy, Deadpool & Wolverine takes place six years after Deadpool 2 and follows Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) who has left his time as the mercenary Deadpool behind him, until the Time Variance Authority (TVA) – a bureaucratic organization that exists outside of time and space and monitors the timeline – pulls him into a new mission. With his home universe facing an existential threat, he is forced to suit back up again as Deadpool and teams up with a reluctant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) from another universe to fight for their survival and ultimately, their legacy.
Out of all the awesome team-ups and crazy crossovers we have had in comic book adaptations over the years, Deadpool & Wolverine is perhaps the most highly anticipated and requested of them all. The two beloved characters are one of the most iconic dynamic duos in comics and people have been practically begging to see them both on screen together for so long, especially when both of them have been portrayed by two of the most perfect comic book character castings in history.
After a long journey of failed attempts by an inept studio (20th Century Fox) as well as consistent development hurdles caused by various issues, we finally have the film many have asked for that brings Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine together for an insane adventure across the multiverse as part of the MCU. And for me personally, it ended up being a personal f**king phenomenon of a comic book film that I absolutely loved! For 24 years I’ve been waiting for this film and holy shit did it truly deliver! This had everything I ever wanted for a Deadpool and Wolverine film while simultaneously adding in its own major surprises in terms of its story and insane multiversal elements that are utilized perfectly. So much could have gone wrong and yet everything was done so right, thanks largely in part to the passionate team behind this film led by Shawn Levy, Ryan Reynolds, and Hugh Jackman.
This film was so special for me that it has honestly become my new favorite MCU film for many reasons. What are those reasons you may ask? Let’s dive into it starting with the cast and of course the two leads of this film.
Ryan Reynolds has returned to the role of Deadpool after a 6-year hiatus but still hasn’t lost his touch as the character. He still perfectly embodies everything we know and love about the character, from his flexible morality to his chatterbox charm and endless deep-cut 4th wall quips. But what was interesting this time around was to see a more emotional and vulnerable side of Deadpool come out in this film that Ryan portrays incredibly well. He really makes us feel for him as well as his story on this wild journey that he takes in order to save the people he loves. Even though he has never really cared about being a world savior before he truly does care deeply for his friends, which is what compels him forward on this mission despite the overwhelming odds he faces.
Most expect Ryan Reynolds to be perfect in his return to the role of Deadpool but I definitely think most eyes, including mine, were on Hugh Jackman’s return as Wolverine aka Logan after having retired from the role in 2017. Wolverine has always been my favorite Marvel character of all time and Hugh Jackman has always been the living embodiment of the character that I hold very near and dear to my heart. After such a powerful and emotional send-off in the film Logan bringing him back had a lot of risks attached, but thankfully his return is handled beautifully and in no way ruins the legacy from previous installments. This portrayal of Wolverine may honestly be my favorite of Hugh Jackman’s performances in live-action, next to his performance in Logan.
Hugh Jackman gives a perfectly raw and emotional performance as this variant of the beloved character, as well as gives a great deal of gravitas that was extremely compelling, making you feel very much attached to him just as much as we have felt attached to him over 24 years. It was like he never left the role but at the same time it was so great to have him be fully unhinged and unfiltered in this, just like in Logan, but now being more in his prime compared to the older and relatively weaker version of the character we saw in that film. He was an absolute animal in this film when it came to the action and I have to say that it was so f**king amazing to finally see him in the original comic-accurate suit after so long! This is the true Wolverine I grew up loving as a kid and I couldn’t have been more satisfied with his portrayal in this film.
I was honestly worried I would never see this version of Wolverine in live action played by Hugh Jackman so I am so happy that Ryan Reynolds was able to convince him to come back. Hugh and Ryan share electrifyingly perfect chemistry as these two iconic characters whose polar opposite personalities truly bounce off each other masterfully, making them truly the main stars of the film and easily make for one of the best comic book team-ups we have ever had in years.
Starring opposite them are two really fun villains that I consider to be the best villains in the Deadpool films, which are Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) and Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfayden). These two are by no means deeply layered villains with complex motives that you can sympathize with, instead they’re two different kinds of highly entertaining villains with simple motivations that you love to hate for how evil they can be in their own ways, in a similar way to Hela and Grandmaster in Thor Ragnarok.
Cassandra Nova is a mutant with majorly powerful telekinetic/telepathic powers who is the twin sister of Charles Xavier in another universe and has established herself as a kind of wasteland warlord in the realm of the Void. Emma Corrin absolutely nails this character down, with her performance being just an absolute agent of chaos like her comic book counterpart who has immense power and just enjoys being evil, not giving a shit about any moral boundaries. She is the polar opposite of her twin Charles in terms of personality and her power is terrifying in a variety of ways, making her a truly formidable foe for the duo to go up against.
She’s a more serious villain in comparison to the more comedic villain Mr. Paradox of the TVA, played brilliantly by Matthew Macfayden. Matthew brings a perfect blend of comedy and bureaucratic style to this character who is very much a representation of the old TVA in terms of its former motives and values prior to its reformation at the end of Loki Season 2. He is the ultimate self-centered prick that you wish to see get ripped a new one by our heroes and like Nova makes for a fun villain in the film in his own way.
Joining them on their journey is a fantastic supporting cast of returning faces, newer faces, and other faces that add even more fun and insanity to the film as a whole. Easily one of the funniest and most adorable additions to the film’s supporting cast that I was so happy to see included was Dogpool, a dog variant of Deadpool from another universe, played by the UK’s ugliest dog winner Peggy. She was a true gem that I think a lot of people are going to love no matter what she looks like.
With this being a film set in the multiverse it was highly expected to see a number of other characters and cameos in the form of alternate versions of the leading characters (Variants like Dogpool) as well as potential returns of familiar faces of the past. And oh boy do we get a lot of both, all of who were absolutely awesome in their own ways and were brilliantly interwoven into the story, never feeling like forced fan service as some may have feared. If you think the trailers gave away the biggest surprises of this film you would be dead wrong because they managed to keep some of the biggest secrets so well hidden from the marketing that they got a lot of amazing reactions from me and my entire packed-out theater. They even went as far as to include one of my favorite multiverse factions from comics that I was blown away by to see included and made me feel so happy to be alive long enough to see it get adapted to the big screen.
Now similar to some of the other multiverse stories we have had so far in Marvel like Loki, Spider-Man No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Spider-Man Across the Spiderverse, the character inclusions and cameos of this film do not take away focus from the main leads and their story but instead serve as a part of their journey together and impact them in various ways. Sometimes it can be in a hilarious way that leads to great laughs and meta-as-hell humor but other times it can be in an emotional and meaningful way, depending on the character or cameo and their relation to one or both characters.
One major surprise character that appears in this film who has a past connection and interaction with Logan ends up delivering one of the most powerful moments in the film that adds growth to his arc and is executed beautifully from both an acting and writing standpoint. This was not some moment of fan service or nostalgia bait. This was actually a genuinely perfect moment that serves as a part of the character’s journey that really adds to the strong heart this film has in between the hyper-violence and hilarious hijinks, along with some of the other powerful and emotional moments this film has to offer.
The multiverse setting allowed the opportunity to have extremely well crafted as well as highly desired scenes and sequences that contribute to the film’s story and characters that may not have been possible to do before, mainly due to past restrictions such as studio rights debacles or poor storytelling from previous installments under the 20th Century Fox banner involving these characters, and this film makes immense fun of this any chance it gets.
The film’s narrative from start to end is a wildly fun and honestly epic ride that truly feels like it was pulled straight from the pages of the craziest Marvel comic adventures featuring these characters, blending multiple genres that work together seamlessly thanks to the team of passionate creatives involved in this film. It’s an insane yet incredibly awesome combination of a bloody and vulgar buddy cop action comedy mixed with a grand adventure across the MCU’s multiverse that is surprisingly held together perfectly without ever losing itself to the madness, as well as keeps true to the charm, style, and tone of the previous Deadpool entries. Not to mention it certainly has plenty of badass and epic sequences that I personally believe to be on par with some of the amazing moments we received in other films like Thor Ragnarok, Infinity War, Endgame, and Spider-Man No Way Home.
But what makes this film largely stand out from its predecessors though is the immense amount of heart this film has that I honestly did not expect it to have that much of. Yes, this film is full of gut-busting laughs, gory violence, foul language, and meta humor that pokes fun at everything and everyone you can imagine but at its core you have these two characters that are dealing with a lot of emotional weight and stakes that drive them forward on this adventure they are reluctantly put upon together.
These two damaged misfits from two different universes are haunted with regret due to events in their respective pasts, and that connection evolves over the course of the film even though they’re constantly and comedically at each other’s throats the entire time. You really feel so much for these two characters, not only because of how long we have been following each of them over the years in their films but also because of what they endure in this film specifically which is very well written and directed.
The previous Deadpool films certainly had some themes of their own but were not necessarily a crucial or deep part of their plots compared to the themes of this film, which honestly puts it above those two films from a narrative perspective, even though I still very much love those films.
Another thing I loved is that this film isn’t solely focused on setting up the next big event of the MCU but is instead focused mainly on the story and development of these two titular characters together on a grand adventure of a lifetime and that to me was exactly the kind of story I wanted from this film from the start. We are given a few interesting glimpses and hints of where things could go for the future of the Multiverse Saga along with various expansions to the continuously growing MCU lore, but the focus remains on Deadpool and Wolverine and their story throughout a majority of this film, even with all the bonkers stuff that goes on.
As mentioned earlier this film does highlight and takes multiple humorous jabs at a lot of things in typical Deadpool 4th-wall-breaking fashion, but it was really interesting to see a lot of the spotlight focused on the 20th Century Fox era of Marvel through this film, from the good, the bad and the ugly. Now despite the numerous mistakes 20th Century Fox has made in the past with its handling of the X-Men and other various Marvel properties they previously owned, there are a number of things they did do right, and this film acknowledges those successes in various ways that I thought was really well done. In a way, this film partially felt like a proper farewell to that Pre-MCU era of films and characters that it never got the chance to have. It certainly felt like a proper execution of an idea that the DCEU attempted to do with The Flash but failed horribly. A clear amount of passion was truly given to this film by everyone involved and I think that is something that a lot of people will feel when they watch it.
This film easily contains some of the best action we have had in the MCU so far, as well as probably the best action sequences in the Deadpool series. From the very opening sequence to the rest of the film it goes insanely R-rated and over the top with its action, all of which is choreographed, shot, and edited f**king masterfully! It’s vicious, relentless, hilarious, and very very gory, not holding back in the slightest. Violent decapitations, limb dismemberment, bloody disintegrations, genital mutilation, this film has it all!
On top of that, most of the action is filmed using a lot of practical effects and stunts that are all awesome and definitely puts this on par with some of the amazing close-quarters combat action we have had in other MCU films such as Winter Soldier, Civil War, and Shang Chi. It was honestly awesome to see a high usage of practical effects, sets, and costumes used in this film that all look visually appealing alongside the CGI effects.
Now there are some CGI effects that look cartoonish and a bit disturbing in some places, similar to some of the CGI in the previous Deadpool films, but in my opinion it adds to the goofy and fun nature of this film, as well as adds some occasional intensity to some sequences like the way Cassandra Nova invades people’s minds in a sort of David Cronenberg fashion.
Visually the film looks gorgeous in pretty much every frame especially when it’s either on the practical sets or showcasing the wasteland like the landscape of the Void. The cinematography is stellar all around, especially when it comes to the way the action is filmed so beautifully marking this as some of the best work from cinematographer George Richmond.
We get a solid and thrilling score from composer Rob Simonsen in this film but I think the needle-drop soundtrack this film has is going to be the talk of the town. Every Deadpool film has had a great soundtrack of songs but this may honestly be my favorite we have had, not only because of the song choices but also how they get used. My personal favorite song choices for this film were definitely “Like a Prayer” by Madonna, “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls, and “You’re The One That I Want” from Grease.
I am so happy that this film finally got made and that I was alive to witness it on the big screen. It was very much a dream come true kind of film that I’ve grown an immediate yet strong attachment to and it will definitely stay with me for a long time. If you are planning to see this film I highly encourage doing so in a theater and avoiding any spoilers on the internet to get the best experience possible. I am eager to watch this film again and again but there is one final thing I want to say to end this review: Thank you Shawn Levy, Ryan Reynolds, and Hugh Jackman for making this long-awaited film a reality for me. I’m going to give Deadpool & Wolverine an A+ = 100.
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