Tim Miller’s original Deadpool took theaters by storm in 2016, becoming an immediate success and setting a new standard for both superhero films and R-rated summer blockbusters. I was in my freshman year of high school at the time, and I was one of many who contributed to Deadpool becoming the highest grossing R-rated movie on record. . Like many other people my age, I thought Ryan Reynolds’ passion project was the funniest thing to hit theaters in the new millennium, and that he would single-handedly revolutionize big-budget comedy. Deadpool 2 was released later in my high school journey, also smashing records and generating laughs everywhere, and although I wasn’t as excited for the sequel, I still maintained that Deadpool was the character that superhero films needed. Now here I am in 2024, reaching the end of my college career and witnessing the release of Deadpool’s integration into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a buddy team-up movie of sorts called Deadpool & Wolverine. Does my enthusiasm for Deadpool being the savior of all things superhero remain? After seeing the new installment, my faith has mostly disappeared.
Is it because I am now older and more cynical, viewing Deadpool’s irreverent humor with a more critical and less innocent lens? Possibly so. Maybe the Deadpool franchise has just gone downhill, and the first movie remains a masterpiece? Having recently viewed the 2016 original with fresh eyes, I can confirm that this is not the case: the humor in Reynolds’ first effort, while often funny, is rapid-fire and often overwhelming, becoming quite tiresome and redundant. I much prefer David Leitch’s more laid-back and far better paced Deadpool 2, which manages to have a touching emotional arc while also letting the jokes breathe. Of all the Deadpool films, Deadpool 2 comes the closest to fully realizing what a great Reynolds-led superhero comedy should look like; containing interesting supporting characters and the most genuine Reynolds performance of the three films. The reason Deadpool 2 (and to an extent the first film as well) works is because we care about the characters and the relationships between them feel real despite the constant fourth-wall smashing.
So, of course, leave it to Disney to make the first Deadpool film in which the characterization is non-existent and only manages to build moments of unearned fan service and self-serving teases to future movies. So yes, in the worst way, Deadpool & Wolverine is the MCU-ification of the Deadpool franchise. Even the constant jokes ripping on the MCU itself feel like one big advertisement for future MCU properties. Hey look, we’re self-aware enough to acknowledge that we keep making forgettable movies! (Please give us money, Captain America: New World Order is coming soon!) Part of the problem with Disney’s acquisition of both Marvel and Fox, is that despite how hard they try, every film as of late still feels like a corporate chess move instead of an authentic effort. Say what you will about the past Deadpool films, but they have far more emotion and personality dripping off of every shot than Deadpool & Wolverine, which seems to have the same cinematography and direction as the last five MCU movies.
Now, despite all of these major setbacks, the constant hilarity coming from Reynolds, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (the jokesters behind all three films) remains consistent, and keeps Deadpool & Wolverine from veering into “failure” territory. If one decided to view the film as only a comedy and not pay any attention to literally any other aspect of the movie, then it would be a far more enjoyable experience, a decision that many viewers are more than happy to abide by. For me, what makes a Deadpool movie good (and what makes literally any movie good) is the mix of excellent humor with an engaging and investing story. Deadpool & Wolverine has excellent humor in spades, but the story is nowhere to be seen here, making it the weakest installment yet despite Reynolds’ deliciously daring comedy.
The inclusion of Hugh Jackson in this film is also somewhat unnecessary: the explanation as to why the character of Wolverine has been resurrected is typical flimsy MCU logic, and his character never becomes as compelling as in Logan, X-Men or really any of the other Fox Marvel films. Jackman always excels as is his norm, and he plays along with Reynolds’ pandemonium well, but, other than the comic-book-accurate costume, nothing particularly new is offered here that justifies the character’s inclusion.
The most baffling decision Deadpool & Wolverine makes is its exclusion of almost every single supporting character that gave the previous Deadpool films their emotional stakes. The supporting characters that are brought back are in a total of two scenes, and some of the more interesting introductions in Deadpool 2 have been completely thrown out as if they never happened. Trust me, I understand not including the creepy T.J. Miller after all that has been revealed about his personal life, but to effectively forget about all that made the other Deadpool films unique and fun is a sad decision. It’s very difficult to talk about all of the supporting cast that’s actually in the film, because almost all of them are gratuitous cameos or reveals of some sort — many of them are truly awesome and earned, but director Shawn Levy includes so many that the story sometimes feels more like a highlight reel of nostalgia than an actual narrative. Even Emma Corrin, a Golden Globe-winning actor from The Crown, and Matthew McFadyen, an Emmy winner for Succession, feel as if they are not given enough material to latch onto.
Perhaps Levy and crew were aware that in order to make a massively successful Deadpool MCU film, the only focus needed to be the humor and the fan service. In some ways they may be correct — after all, Deadpool & Wolverine has already garnered some of the highest box office numbers of 2024. But for people like me, who have grown up with this Deadpool franchise and who love Reynolds’ portrayal of the wise-cracking, self-aware anti-hero, the newest installment feels underwhelming. In high school, all I needed was crude jokes and fan service to get me by; but seeing them in the context of the MCU, despite its hilarity, conflicts my brain. While I will remember many of the jokes and ridiculous one-liners fondly, I would not be surprised if in a couple years the plot details will have slipped my mind entirely. In future films, Disney and the MCU need to craft more authentic, less self-serving films, or the downward spiral of superhero fatigue and general mediocrity will keep spinning ever longer.
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