‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ is the Anti-MCU Blockbuster We Need
By Elliott Cuff
Ever since Avengers: Endgame, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been in uncharted waters. Beginning with Iron Man in 2008 and spanning the next 11 years, Marvel built to an almighty crescendo over the course of 22 movies, making Endgame a defining cultural moment that paid off years of franchise loyalty.
Since then, the ship has occasionally appeared to have lacked direction, with multiversal storytelling diluting the strength of the MCU brand and furthering the conversation around superhero fatigue. Phase Four suffered a handful of critical misses, and Phase Five has proven to be equally inconsistent, which led many moviegoers to place their hopes for the future of the franchise on the shoulders of Deadpool & Wolverine.
Longtime friends Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have both made their respective characters their own—Reynolds’ signature comedic wit helped make 2016’s Deadpool the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all-time (now fourth highest), and Jackman defied comic book accuracy to epitomize the character of Wolverine, with his portrayals spanning 10 films and almost 25 years.
Bringing those two characters together looked to be a recipe for success, and director Shawn Levy triumphantly executed a film that allowed both to shine while also not concerning itself too heavily with moving the MCU needle.
A self-contained, self-deprecating success
Much of what has hamstrung Marvel in recent years is the incessant need to link each movie to the next, to continue the overarching story. The Infinity Saga, as the first 22 movies in the franchise have come to be called, were successful not simply because each installment was an entertaining burst of superhero action, but also because each film felt as though it was leading the audience somewhere. Some of the less critically praised movies were able to skirt by relatively unscathed because they ultimately expanded the Saga, but we all know that lightning rarely strikes twice.
Deadpool & Wolverine shakes off the shackles of MCU responsibility and bursts into theaters as a movie that ultimately serves little purpose other than to entertain. Kevin Feige, true to his word, doesn’t Disneyfy the Deadpool character or the world he inhabits. Deadpool & Wolverine retains its R-rating, and it earns that classification with extreme language, bloody violence, and fourth-wall-breaking quips that occasionally strike close to the bone.
Since the Disney/Fox merger, Marvel fans have been wondering how the MCU would integrate the Fox characters into the larger franchise, and Deadpool has often been seen as one such instrument that could make that happen. But that’s not what Deadpool & Wolverine is about. Wade Wilson and Logan unite on a multiversal adventure, that much is true, but the ultimate aim isn’t simply to move the Fox characters (that Marvel wants to keep) into the Sacred Timeline.
The movie’s plot can be best described as unfocused, but each sequence is jam-packed with so many comedic quips that land, meta jabs that are both creative and demonstrative of Marvel’s ability to be self-deprecating, and an abundance of cameos that are more about the excitement in the moment than paving the way for future involvement. At no point does the movie ever feel as though it’s setting up the next chapter, and that’s what makes it feel like such a rarity.
Naturally, the film may leave your average MCU stalwart with questions about where the characters new and old now fit in, but the movie isn’t interested in answering those questions. It focuses on individual character growth, both for Deadpool and for Wolverine, and it feels like a contained story in that sense. Feige and Co. will no doubt have plans for Deadpool going forward, and perhaps for Wolverine if Jackman doesn’t seek out an immediate second retirement, but those plans aren’t remotely foreshadowed here.
Investing in the here and now
It’s refreshing to watch a Marvel movie that wants to be absorbed solely on its own terms. Deadpool & Wolverine reinvigorates Marvel not because it seeks to expand the mythos and set up the next five projects, but because it’s an entertaining movie that invests you in the here and now of the characters. That’s a smart move for Marvel to make, particularly because the franchise currently rests on uneven ground.
Marvel still has some way to go if they are to recapture the spark that made the Infinity Saga such an essential viewing experience for so many. Deadpool & Wolverine steers the ship back in the right direction, sailing into the summer movie season as the wish-fulfillment blockbuster extravaganza that many hoped it would be, and it doesn’t try to be much more than that.
Elliott Cuff is a writer, journalist, and film enthusiast. Follow him on Instagram @elliottlovesmovies.