Deadpool & Wolverine: a triumph on all levels

Let me start off by saying that this review contains no spoilers. I won’t be mentioning anything that hasn’t already been revealed in trailers.

Less than five minutes in, I already lean back in my cinema seat breathing a sigh of relief. My fears that Disney’s ever family-friendly shackles would shut the merc with a mouth up are literally dissolving into nothingness. Instead, I watch in amusement as Deadpool swings his hips to *NSYNC’s Bye Bye Bye in the midst of morbid mayhem. «Maximum effort», he breathes delicately into the camera beforehand.

Yep, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool is so back.

The plot in Deadpool & Wolverine

Nothing’s going Deadpool’s way. Especially not in his X-Men universe, Earth-10005. There, he has to face the sad truth: Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) has left him, he’s replaced his would-be heroic existence with a boring supermarket job and he can count his friends on one hand. A depressing surprise party organised by said friends is the last thing he needs.

But then Deadpool gets a visit from the Time Variance Authority (TVA). He’s to become an Avenger on Earth-616 and take on an incredibly important but as yet unknown task there. All he has to do is leave his few friends behind. They’re doomed anyway, Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), the TVA middle management employee, succinctly explains. After all, the so-called anchor being of Earth-10005 has died – and so, according to the laws of the multiverse, its universe is slowly dying alongside.

Deadpool has a choice: either he finally becomes an Avenger – his dream since he first travelled the multiverse – or he saves his world. But to do the latter, he needs a new anchor being. It’s a good thing the multiverse has several of them at the ready – even if intervening could conjure up a new, ever-greater danger.

Between violence and hilarity, there’s heart

It happens. Yet again. Ryan Reynolds insults and mows down nearly everything and everyone. Wait a minute. Ignore that «nearly». The guy doesn’t spare anyone or anything. Marvel boss Kevin Feige only imposed one rule on him: no coke (-caine, not -a Cola). No Disco Dust. No Peruvian Marching Powder. And, accordingly – unlike in Disney’s Frozen – no snowman ends up in the film. «Cocaine’s off the table!» he grumbles sadly through the fourth wall, a bitter loss for him. Of course, Deadpool connoisseurs know this.

But I’m happy regardless. The first trailers did hint that Deadpool could take aim at the Marvel cinematic universe. A little, at least. Like when Deadpool celebrates himself as Marvel Jesus, prophesised to save the MCU from its never-ending series of failures. But I didn’t really want to believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. And what I saw goes far beyond just «taking the mickey» (get it?).

In truth, the whole film could be interpreted as one whole ludicrous meta-statement on how the old Fox universe has been slowly deteriorating since the death of its «anchor being» and how it’ll be saved by Disney Studios – in the form of the outrageously obscene and ever-rude Deadpool. Of course, it had to be him.

At least that’s the version Deadpool wants to believe. After all, Deadpool’s going through his midlife crisis. One that destroyed his relationship with Vanessa. Where a gruff man with adamantium claws was the anchor being of Earth-10005, Vanessa is something like Deadpool’s anchor. As a result, his private life seems to be slowly decaying just like the universe itself. If Deadpool manages to save Earth-10005, he may even save his relationship. Or at least his friends. So goes the theory of the former super mercenary.

Of course, it’s not so simple in practice. Deadpool hasn’t just been running away from his feelings since the TVA appeared. Exactly this is the emotional core of the story. What makes a true hero?

Admittedly, this isn’t exactly innovative. It might even be the most hackneyed cliché of the entire superhero genre. And yet, Reynolds and director Shawn Levy, who wrote the screenplay together, fire shots at their heroes’ sore spots with uncanny accuracy. So accurate, in fact, that even the imaginative butchery and all the multiversal madness can’t hold back one or two manly tears.

The crazy story of how Hugh Jackman returned

The fact that Deadpool & Wolverine isn’t only hilarious and brutal, but also has a good dose of heart, is also thanks to Hugh Jackman’s long-awaited return as Wolverine.

The Australian explained how this came about just a few weeks ago during an exclusive press conference I had the honour of attending. After all, back during the filming of Logan, he proudly announced it’d definitely be his very last time slipping into the role of Wolverine, turning his back on the X-Men universe for good. Apparently, he was simply «too old» for it. Then Deadpool hit cinemas. Hugh Jackman’s first thought when the credits rolled: «Damn. If only I’d kept my mouth shut.»

Fans had to be patient until Deadpool and Logan were finally allowed to appear in the same film. At the time, 20th Century Fox was in the process of being taken over by Disney. Whether and how Deadpool would fit into the family-friendly MCU wasn’t a priority for Kevin Feige. And since Wolverine had already found an epic, worthy finale in Logan, the topic was seemingly off the table anyway.

And by the way: no, the pathetic parody of Deadpool present in X-Men Origins: Wolverine from 2009 doesn’t count as a crossover. Period.

In truth, Reynolds got a story idea for a Wolverine return shortly after Deadpool 2 in 2018, adding this during the same exclusive press conference. Kevin Feige’s diplomatic answer: No. Reynolds made other films in the meantime. Free Guy. Then, The Adam Project. Both films were directed by Shawn Levy. Reynolds and Levy got on so well that Reynolds decided to write and direct the third Deadpool film with Levy.

At the same time, Hugh Jackman performed on Broadway in The Music Man. One night, still reminiscing about having announced his departure from Wolverine too soon, he called Reynolds on a whim. Apparently, Reynolds had just been in the lift with Levy, on his way to a final story meeting with Kevin Feige for Deadpool 3. In the few minutes they had left before the meeting, Reynolds and Levy cobbled together a completely new story – with Wolverine as the central character. One last, desperate attempt to get the epic team-up after all.

Voilà: Feige was impressed. Wolverine’s return was sealed. And a completely new film was born.

Reynolds and Jackman: a fantastic team

We’ll probably never know what the story of a third Deadpool film without Wolverine would’ve looked like. The fact there ever was a version without him seems almost ridiculous, the character is that central to the current story. I never get tired of seeing an annoyed Hugh Jackman grunting while he extends his claws anyway. No one will. Not even Feige. Deadpool says as much. After all, Feige would milk him until he was ninety, so says the Merc.

He probably isn’t that far off either. One of many predictive meta comments. Not that I’d have a problem with it. Jackman and Reynolds harmonise perfectly. Just like their characters Wolverine and Deadpool. Sometimes as a kind of buddy cop comedy with an R rating. Other times as a bloody cage-fight action bonanza in a Honda Odyssey. And sometimes even as a character study about loss, family and feelings of guilt. Neither of the two is neglected. And where necessary, the script even gives quiet, emotional moments time to breathe. The latter in particular is usually a bad Marvel tendency. At the worst-possible moment, a joke completely destroys the emotional impact of a scene. Not here. Thank God!

At the same time, Deadpool & Wolverine has its hands full with multiverse absurdity. The film is teeming with unexpected but all the more magnificent cameos. Unlike Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, however, they never just feel like fan service. Instead, they fit like a glove, trigger certain character developments or even have a lasting influence on the plot.

Cameos or not: Deadpool & Wolverine could still pass as both the ultimate Deadpool and the ultimate Wolverine film. No wonder: even in the comics, the two characters share a brilliantly written love-hate relationship. To finally see them on the big screen is a dream come true. And it’s a blessing that this can happen in the midst of brutal action that never goes overboard or becomes bigger than its own characters.

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