@thearmag3ddon here with yet another Movie Review that is weeks late but I’ve been busy but you will wear and you will like it:
In honor of the LA Times not even giving me a “we received your resume” before sending a form rejection letter for their open Movie Critic role, it would be hilarious if this somehow went viral just to show them that they missed out on a good thing. So, you know what to do.
But anyway…
Guys. I am so so over the multiverse.
As a longtime comic book reader and fan, I always welcomed multiverse stories as diversions for 2-3 issues. The writers, for the most part, knew not to spend too much time on the bit where we get to see fun or cool variations of familiar characters and/or themes (X-Babies 4 eva), giving us a fresh take or look that was ultimately interesting but noncommittal. There HAVE been some pretty epic stories involving multiversal variations and elements that actually felt like they had stakes (Crisis on Infinite Earths and Alan Moore’s tenure on Captain Britain, to name a few), but emphasis on the key word.
NONCOMMITTAL
For the most part, the post-Avengers: Endgame MCU to me is a House of Cards built on this concept which at its core (multiverse stories) is mostly vibing with the noncommittal. Which, the result is, muted stakes. This is often because they introduce variations on characters we already know, only to off them one or two scenes later. A perfect example is Doctor Strange 2, where iconic characters like Mr. Fantastic, Professor X, and Captain Carter (from What If…?) are introduced only to be summarily executed. It feels like a wasted opportunity, as these are characters and concepts I would love to see fully explored. Instead, they’re treated as castoff concepts, much like the quirky easter eggs in Deadpool & Wolverine—like Patch in Madripoor or the Wolverine Reavers cover—or even Domino in Deadpool 2. These moments could be epic stories on their own, but instead, they’re reduced to throwaway jokes. Rather than diving into the rich, proven stories that we already know work, we’re getting watered-down drivel that misses the mark which always ends up culminating in yet another Dark Phoenix movie.
So then ultimately, why should we care? They usually manifest as some story that features glorified cameos to create a feeling of in-the-moment excitement (the storytelling equivalent of the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme). To be fair, most geek entertainment that relies on this type of foreknowledge or recognition for entertainment value has always been a pet peeve of mine (and I admit I’m in the minority, yet still…hey, It’s me, he said in his Han Solo voice…the hypocritical irony of it all.)
So then, hey, buckle your seatbelts because… I kind of—no, actually, I really did thoroughly enjoy Deadpool & Wolverine. Even though it engaged in some of the usual multiverse tropes, I think it did more to actually create stakes for the characters and the world in a way that made me care. Unlike other multiverse films, this one makes the stakes feel real by focusing on character development that was actually intertwined with the concept without feeling contrived in a cynical way. Wolverine’s pain and sense of responsibility aren’t just plot devices; they ground the absurdity in something tangible, making us genuinely care about what happens next while also being actually integral to the stakes and plot. Kinna like how really good Pixar movies always manage to do now that I think about it.
First, the good. Even though I’m a bit over Ryan Reynolds at this point (at least Al Pacino and Robert De Niro had to actually act as characters, not just themselves, before earning the privilege to just show up as themselves), his Van Wilder-as-Comic-Book-Character persona is perfect for this filmic interpretation of Deadpool. It helps that you don’t have to see his face, mostly, so it’s not as annoying. LOL. But yes, the random delivery and grand pop culture referential nature of the jokes—rather than being hyper-focused on just geek realm references through dialogue, even if visually they did mine that particular well—was actually welcome for me.
Second, it’s impressive and grounding, and ultimately why I think this movie actually works beyond yet another unserious Deadpool romp, how Hugh Jackman legitimately plays Wolverine with nothing but serious dramatic weight throughout the film. He never dips into the buffoonery that Deadpool deals in, staying true to his actual character. He is always serious, yet able to exist in the same absurd space—a testament to Hugh Jackman as an actor as well as to the direction and writing. Ultimately, I think the entire endeavor ends up working because he brings at least a level of seriousness, even while all of this is a rip-roaring, ruckus absurd adventure.
Given the mandate of having to deal in a multiversal context or storyline, it was used to great effect, and I would actually put this story in the category of multiverse stories that actually worked (the aforementioned Crisis, and Jasper’s Warp Captain Britain, and Anything Everywhere All At Once) and felt like they had a direct consequence upon the main characters without the main characters having to do something dumb to cause the dilemma in the first place. Basically the stakes are great and it’s up to the characters to resolve the problem but first…learn a little bit about themselves along the way.
Sorry, Spider-man You Can’t Go Home Again or whatever you were called.
But still, while that is true, I’m not going to gush too much. Because yeah… I felt like the movie worked despite dealing in multiverse tomfoolery, not because of it. And also, while watching it, I couldn’t help but think that you—yes, YOU, reading this, who might actually be like me and loves the comic book genre, and has enjoyed an unprecedented run of a decade of pretty good to great movies—deserve so much more than what we’re getting now. Even though we’ve come a long way from a time when the Hoff played Nick Fury, and we could have never imagined moments like “On Your Left” and portals opening up while Cap kicked Thanos’ arse with Thor’s hammer, we still deserve better than what we’re being offered now. Hear me out. I know I might seem ungrateful, but…
I’ve felt this while watching all of the Deadpool movies so far, to be honest, but I felt it especially in this one.
While it’s cool that longtime fans get to see all the deep lore stuff that we know the MCU has only scratched the surface of, it also shows me that they will never go any deeper than they’ve gone—and you, in fact, deserve better. Because they continue to take the things we really want to see and treat them as jokes. Like whatever that was as Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy 3, while a perfectly great Grey Hulk at the casino or The Death of Captain Marvel story exits.
What I’m saying is, yes, it was so cool to see Cable in Deadpool 2. But Cable was ultimately used as a one-off gimmick in a mostly comedic, non-serious movie. When… just go watch X-Men ‘97 to see what actually could have been.
Was it cool to see Patch? So fun. Was it awesome to see the cover of Uncanny X-Men #251? Not gonna lie. It kind of blew my mind. But then I remembered that even though we’ve come a long way since the days of no one being able to figure out how to make a comic book property not named Superman or Batman, we still exist in a world where they don’t take the material we love so much seriously enough to be expressed fully and unapologetically. And I’m saying that while acknowledging that Marvel’s movies work far better than DC’s because they embraced it more, but now I feel…they are getting a bit more gun shy.
One of my biggest gripes about the X-Men movie franchise is it’s been an endless reiteration of The Dark Phoenix saga over and over. Which, while probably it’s most well-known and epic story, the X-Men have so many great adventures that we’ll never get to see. I’m talking the Brood, the Reavers, the Savage Land, the Fall of the Mutants, even Cassandra Nova who you got a glimpse, though, as jokes in this movie. It’s the only time they bothered to actually acknowledge some of the more fantastic elements that made us love it in the first place. While these performances ground the chaos, they also serve as a reminder of the potential the X-Men franchise has yet to fully realize. The references to classic comic lore, though enjoyable, highlight the missed opportunities to explore these stories more deeply. I’m ranting, so don’t mind me. I’m just bitter that the only time I’ve gotten to see Colossus really mostly has been as a joke. And I wish that we got to see Cable, or Domino, or Cassandra Nova, in stories that match their seriousness, not surrounded by absurdity. Even if the absurdity was quite fun regardless. But yeah..I think that you deserve better, so while this movie was enjoyable, don’t let them pile more of this on you all the same.
And I think as much as I liked this movie—it was definitely fun, I felt the feels, even if the second act was clearly struggling, so they added a redundant, repetitive showdown in it—but ultimately, I wish this had been a farewell to the multiverse sendoff for the MCU. But…alas, I know that won’t be true.
Despite some flaws, like the second act’s redundancy, the film manages to strike a balance between fun and substance. This makes it a worthwhile watch. I do recommend seeing it in theaters if you still have a chance to. It’s a movie you won’t feel at all that you’ve completely wasted your time, even if you don’t love it to death.
In a world where multiverse stories often fall flat, Deadpool & Wolverine offers a refreshing exception. It shows that when done right, even a multiverse tale can have depth and meaning, proving that there’s still potential in this overused trope.
I give Deadpool & Wolverine 4.5 Enya Box Sets out of 5.
Until the next review that you didn’t ask for, @thearmageddon, signing off.