A Fan’s Dream – Deadpool & Wolverine (Movie Review)

“Come together.

A listless Wade Wilson toils away in civilian life with his days as the morally flexible mercenary, Deadpool, behind him. But when his homeworld faces an existential threat, Wade must reluctantly suit-up again with an even more reluctant Wolverine.” – Letterboxd Synopsis

I grew up with the Fox X-Men movies and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. The MCU was (and to an extent still is) such a giant part of my grade school and teenage life and all of the other comic book properties that were owned by Fox hold a special place in my heart and always will so for me this movie is a dream come true in so many way’s. This movie is a culmination of everything I’ve enjoyed from the other two. It’s the best of the trilogy and also one of my favorite comic book movies ever and I seriously hope this is the beginning of a new strong era for the MCU in particular.

Wade has had one of the best character arcs in the MCU to me. His writing feels very consistent with his growth. He is a very morally grey person that cares deeply about the people around him and that care has led him to grow tremendously and want to be a better person overall. He wants to be seen as a hero and there’s a great bit in this movie with him applying to be an Avenger, but that just shows his growth from the first movie where he absolutely dreaded the idea of joining the X-Men. This newfound desire to be that and save his dimension from not existing anymore is perfectly opposed by this version of Logan we get in the movie who has lost it all and doesn’t care anymore. This movie actually spends a lot of time on the lost and forgotten which plays into all of the fun cameos, but ultimately it’s a moment for Deadpool, for Wade to fully become a hero and beacon to show that not everything is lost, you don’t have to feel forgotten, things can be saved and he’ll do it. There’s some self admitted selfishness in that too, but it’s a great arc for him that I really enjoyed see come in fruition.

One of my favorite bits in the movie was Deadpool going through the Rolodex of universes trying to find a suitable Wolverine. The version of Wolverine that we get in this movie is maybe my second favorite iteration of this character that Hugh Jackman has done only behind his performance in Logan. This is the Wolverine that has lost everything and failed to protect the people he’s cared about, which is unlike the Wolverines we’re accustomed to in previous movies and a reminder of what Deadpool could become if his plan fails. I absolutely loved Wolverine He was the perfect opposition to Deadpool, constantly taking him down a notch with a handful of really hard-hitting scenes where he just verbally (and also physically) tears into him. I’m so glad that this movie allowed heavy moments to breathe because Hugh Jackman puts on absolute show stealing performance the way he’s able to portray the sadness deep inside of Wolverine and how he projects that onto Deadpool. It’s amazing. I love the journey his character goes on towards accepting his failures and conquering them. While the end of this movie had me questioning some continuity things, I loved what his character was and where he ended up. I know the joke is that Mickey is gonna have Hugh Jackman playing this character until his death, but honestly I wouldn’t mind, he is just perfect as Wolverine.

Of course, this movie is a multiverse event. I think the cameos were downright amazing, from returning actors reprising their roles from 10 to 20 years ago, to people getting a chance to play roles that they’ve had their name attached to for over a decade now. As a big fan of comic book movies since I was a kid and someone who grew up watching all of these movies, it was a real treat to see all of it. There was one cameo in particular that’s kind of fake out but it just made me smile from ear to ear because I loved that certain actor in that role when I was child. It makes me happy thinking about it now because their interactions with Deadpool and Wolverine were hilarious. With all that being said, god please let this be the last multiverse movie for a long time. I’m so done with the concept and I’m ready for the MCU to be unshackled from this plot point.

There are two main villains in this movie, and one definitely outshines the other. I haven’t seen Loki season 2, but I was kind of mild on season 1, so the whole TVA angle in this movie was interesting but the outcome and reasoning was predictable. Cassandra Nova though? I loved her. I’ve always thought her character was interesting and her backstory is very brutal. I’m glad they leaned into that and her sadistic nature and hatred for her brother Charles. Her powers are just so gruesome, but the idea of a telepath that needs to make physical contact with your mind is so cool. She was funny as well. As the main threat, she worked and I almost wish she had more screen time.

What also worked for me was the action scenes. There were a few iffy CGI moments, but the vast majority of fights were so raw and visceral but amazing. Especially the musical number fights. It’s no joke when I say, I firmly believe the intro to this movie is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Just brilliant. The opening fight scene in the snowy forest where Logan rests from the end of said movie where Deadpool fights all of the TVA agents using Logans remains set to Bye Bye Bye by Nsync is really one of my favorite movie scenes ever. It had me listening to Justin Timberlake for a month after. The fights between Deadpool and Wolverine where to gruesome and awesome with them just hacking away at each other to no avail because they both have basically super regeneration. And there’s even another musical fight scene at the end set to Like a Prayer that’s almost just as good as the first one. Not to even mention some of the big battle scenes. This movie has some of the best action that I’ve seen ever.

So yeah, I absolutely loved this movie from beginning to end. I think it’s the funniest of the trilogy while also having the most heart out of them all, which may be a wild thing to say, but I loved what Deadpool has become and this alternate version of Logan goes through as he struggles with his past. Thank god an MCU movie has been allowed to breathe during its serious moments to really let them sink in. Hugh jackman was amazing. Deadpool was even more on point with the jokes, and I actually really enjoyed Casndra Nova as the main villain. The cameos were great, two in particular had me laughing and so excited. It has one of the best action scenes I’ve personally seen. And overall I loved this movie. It never felt like it was disrespecting the legacy of Logan. That movie still happened. Those moments still hold weight. It doesn’t conflict with what this movie did. I really think this is exactly what the MCU needed and hopefully things are trending upward after this. I can’t even imagine Deadpool and Wolverine and potentially more Fox characters helping fight a RDJR Dr. Doom, but we’ll see in a couple years. This movie was awesome.

Deadpool & Wolverine: 10/10

---

Notes: Finally after like 20 years we get to see Wolverine in a comic book accurate suit. It looked so damn good in live action.