DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE— 5 STARS

Despite its proven record of success and wondrous riches amassed in nearly a quarter-century, the expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe has needed some kind of a jolt. The writing’s been on the wall that, other than a bright spot pocket or two, their post-Avengers: Endgame phases have been floundering from over-saturation and consumer indifference to multiverse shenanigans, ugly scandals, and rushed sloppiness. Many wondered if the powerhouse studio would–if they even could–see past their own cash cow hubris. Miraculously, they found their jolt with the gloriously gaudy Deadpool & Wolverine.

LESSON #1: CALL IN ARROGANCE TO CALL OUT ARROGANCE– Maybe it’s just an even higher level of untouchable, “too big to fail” hubris, but, for one movie, Marvel owns their flaws and makes a statement with Deadpool & Wolverine. They slowed down their ever-churning assembly line to make this blockbuster their only theatrical offering of 2024, correcting their greedy abundance and focusing their hype machine to properly create the kind of must-see event that used to be their specialty. But, here’s the craziest part with that Hollywood hubris and wounded pride. Marvel addresses their overall commercial arrogance and vanity by–get this–using the most arrogant and vain character in their library as a means to go against just about everything they’ve ever done with their branded image.

There is a smorgasbord of possible secrets and swerves with Deadpool & Wolverine, but here’s what can be said spoiler-free. After his application to join The Avengers was rejected in 2018 after Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox Studios, the “Merc with a Mouth” Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) gave up hero work as Deadpool for toupee-wearing civilian life to become a used car salesman alongside his old mustachioed X-Force chum Peter (Rob Delaney from Deadpool 2). Wade misses his trigger-happy swashbuckling days, but, with Peter, his roommate Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), his ex-squeeze Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), Dopinder (Karan Soni), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and others, he has a supportive tribe that makes life meaningful. 

A sunny forecast becomes cloudy when Wade is forcefully summoned by the pompous Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfayden of Succession) of the Time Variance Authority (TVA) introduced in the Loki TV series. Thanks to Marvel’s fractured multiverse filled with errant threads harming The Sacred Timeline, Wade’s obsolete world with the people he loves is due to be extinguished because they lost their critical “anchor being.” That vital individual is not Deadpool, but The Wolverine himself who died gallantly in a blaze of glory at the end of 2017’s Logan. Thinking he can play “Marvel Jesus” and prevent this catastrophe by rebuffing the TVA, Deadpool hops timelines to find a replacement Logan to bring to his own. He finds the surliest and most traditionally-costumed version possible (Hugh Jackman). Before long, the two fighters get bounced to The Void, a desolate plane populated by discarded castoffs from other timelines controlled by the domineering Cassandra Nova (The Crown Emmy nominee Emma Corrin), the powerful and unrealized twin sister of Charles Xavier. 

The hijinks ensue from there in Deadpool & Wolverine in an unbridled orgasm of showmanship. Creating sets and battlefields layered in Easter eggs, the production design team of Ray Chan (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) outdid themselves in establishing brawny and cool settings. From there, second unit director and supervising stunt coordinator George Cottle (Spider-Man: No Way Home) did everything in his power to ignite those surroundings with squibs and sparks while fight coordinator Alex Kyshkovych (The Adam Project) and fight choreographer Ashley Park (Eternals) weaponized the props laying around and kicked in every door and window set in front of the characters. What they couldn’t manifest practically, Oscar-nominated Free Guy visual effects supervisor Swen Gillberg digitally inflates with surreal gusto. All of it, enhanced with the flamboyant charisma of the ripped ensemble showing off, is pure panache.

Deadpool & Wolverine is unquestionably the funniest MCU film to date by a cosmic mile, with a script written by the original Deadpool team of Rhett Reece and Paul Wernick with assisting polishes from director Shawn Levy, crossover comic book writer Zeb Wells, and Reynolds cooking for his own kitchen. The rants, quips, threats, diatribes, cutdowns, superlatives, and celebrations cascade in a filterless fashion. One of the largest sources of laughs in the movie is its wacky soundtrack of sharp song choices ranging from Green Day and The Goo Goo Dolls to Madonna and *NSYNC. The needle drops hit hard enough to break ribs for their hilarious inclusions and break noses with their on-the-money moment-making power.

LESSON #2: YOU CAN FINALLY MATTER– All throughout Deadpool & Wolverine, Wade Wilson is going through an existential crisis of whether or not he and his exploits matter. In his own words, he says “I know I turn everything into a joke, but I care, and I want to use that for something important.” His warped desire to answer presumed higher purposes to become a team player and a world savior constantly flies against his selfish aims for constant personal attention. That character flaw becomes amplified when he shares his values and compares his experiences with those of this variant of Logan, who is a disgraced failure who no longer matters where he comes from. As a sort of a callback to his own “your crazy matches my crazy” line to Vanessa in his first film and his own invention of “educated wishes” in this sequel, Deadpool must learn to fight for something bigger than himself.

While these two titular comic book characters have a rich history from the paneled pages, this movie commandeers the ongoing real-life comedy generated by the drummed-up rivalry shared between Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. Their playful feud across social media and talk-show couches enlivens their costumed personas of iconic antiheroes with the same ball-busting mojo and undeniable bromance chemistry. The warp-speed effervescence of Reynolds has always had a commitment to the bit in everything he does, and his pairing with Jackman’s penchant for grizzled stoicism instantly becomes the stuff of legend. Pulling Hugh Jackman back from his perfect character retirement (probably with a big bag of Marvel cash) after Logan for Deadpool & Wolverine could have been a swan song-ruining move right there with Toy Story 4 and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Instead, even when noble sacrifices get their own punchlines, Jackman’s unmatched capacity and edge as the tortured hero thickens the muscles of gravitas that raise this movie to a special level of satisfaction beyond the wisecracks. 

LESSON #3: LEAVE THE KIDS AT HOME– Buyer beware, nothing about Deadpool & Wolverine is for Marvel’s usual target audience under the cutesy-wootsy Disney umbrella of their parent company. The R-rated bloodletting would soak through the Band-Aids and gauze pads of every first aid kit in all of Disney’s towering theme parks. With every “Let’s fucking go,” the rampant profanity would rupture the eardrums of every Mickey Mouse ear headband found in their shiny stores. For 128 minutes, Marvel steps out of their comfort zone to make themselves the meta butt of their own jokes, fully aware of both the potential freshness and consequences of going this route. In breaking like this after all those years of safe and innocuous choices elsewhere, Marvel has found–wouldn’t you know it–a level of witty satire in Deadpool & Wolverine higher than their usual bread-and-butter of loaded fanboy references.

The bravery and gratitude for that result belongs to director Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds. Through some combination of desperation, bribery, insanity, or all of the above, longtime Marvel czar Kevin Feige let these two proven hit-makers and notorious smart asses come in and blow anything and everything every shitty to bits. Their chaotic and strategic geniusness hits bullseye upon bullseye with off-the-charts self-awareness for all the bathos infecting the MCU. In doing so, Deadpool & Wolverine operates with a reckless abandon that, through all the bottomless irreverent humor and pizazz on screen, smears its blood and guts from a surprising and corrective place of love.