Make Me Lose Control — Deadpool & Wolverine
The Marvel Cinematic Universe began as an ambitious experiment in shared worldbuilding, a multi-year gamble that could have gone bust at any moment. The idea of creating a massive overarching narrative that allowed for cross-pollination, cameos, and a climactic showdown of dozens of superheroes was completely unheard of, and the fact that the entire plan didn’t fall flat at multiple points is nothing short of a statistical miracle.
But in the ultimate reversal of the “How it Started/How it’s Going” meme, the MCU since Endgame has become an unwieldy behemoth, existing purely to print money and self-perpetuate, even though general audiences have balked at the sheer glut of movies and TV shows they’re supposed to keep track of in order for any of this to make sense (and pay for the privilege), and franchise fatigue set in long ago. Kevin Feige’s mismanagement of the property shows no signs of stopping, however, despite Phases Four and Five being largely duds, multiple production delays on much hyped projects like Blade, Jonathan Majors barely avoiding jail for domestic abuse, and an almost universal fan revolt over the execution of the “Multiverse Saga.” The feeling that the powers that be at Marvel and Disney have completely run out of ideas was only reinforced this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con with the reveal of Robert Downey Jr. returning to the fold, not as Iron Man, but as the Fantastic Four villain that’s never been properly translated to the screen, Victor Von Doom.
It’s against this very bleak meta backdrop that we find Deadpool & Wolverine, most likely the final MCU entry that any casual observer or viewer capable of critical thought will ever give a crap about. The potential collateral damage of yet another terror scenario — how will Feige mess up the X-Men after Disney bought out Fox — I and I’m sure many others were genuinely worried about how the edge and charisma of the “Merc with the Mouth” would be homogenized by the Marvel Machine. After a groundbreaking debut and a more than worthy follow-up, the wait for a third adventure with DP was long-awaited, and eventually long-dreaded once the franchises were consolidated.
Thankfully, series frontman Ryan Reynolds knew exactly how to assuage our fears. There was an early announcement that Hugh Jackman would be coming out of hero retirement to once more don the claws of Wolverine, the script made sure to include — and advance — the R-rated humor and violence that so endeared audiences to Reynolds after two failed attempts at (non) caped crusading, and the marketing was filled to the brim with all the giddiness we’ve come to expect from his involvement. He made sure to let the viewer know that despite the change of management, we were still in good hands.
So how does Deadpool fare in the MCU? Well, that’s a complicated question to answer. For the first time ever, I’m grading this film with something of a caveat built in. To be clear, there are flaws in this picture, some that may dilute or even destroy your enjoyment. That being said, I choose to excuse them because of what I feel the intention of this project was: to make the closest thing to an “anti-MCU” movie as Feige et al would allow, giving voice to the numerous complaints and good faith disappointments the fanbase has suffered over the last half-decade. This is not a perfect piece of cinematic art, but it is perfect for its moment.
After the epilogue of the last entry, where Deadpool used a time travel device to right the wrongs of his past in spectacularly hilarious fashion (including killing himself in two different forms, both the character and the actor), we’re informed that this was not, in fact, a one-off gag, but a canon event, as Wade Wilson jumps to another timeline to beg Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) for a spot in the Avengers, and goes to the place where Wolverine died in Logan in hopes of digging him up and proving that the mutant is truly immortal. During a high-octane, high body count battle with literal time cops set to “Bye Bye Bye” (I hate the song, but the usage is tremendous; really the entire catalog soundtrack is its own comic relief sidekick), we find out that Pool has been recruited by the Time Variance Authority, or TVA (which I guess is a thing in Loki or some other show I don’t care to watch) by a man called Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfayden), offering him the chance to join the “Sacred Timeline,” i.e. the main MCU canon, because his universe and everything in it will soon cease to exist, a consequence of Logan’s death. He was apparently an “anchor being” who kept things in order, and without him to stop Pool’s previous shenanigans, the timeline is degrading. Paradox has developed a machine called a “Time Ripper” to “mercy kill” the timeline in one go, rather than waiting for the next 2,000 years for it to break down.
Did any of that make sense? No? Good. That’s the point. The MCU has bogged itself down for years with all this Disney+ homework that people just don’t have the time or money to invest in anymore, and as such, every single development of the multiverse feels shoehorned and convoluted, not to mention confusing as fuck. It’s so overwhelming and dense that we don’t even get to question Deadpool finding Logan’s grave, where Wolverine has rotted down to just his adamantium-infused skeleton, even though the events of Logan take place in 2029 and this film takes place firmly in the present day of 2024. All of the fourth wall breaks aside, the real meta joke is that a major piece of continuity is simply tossed aside for the sake of plot convenience, despite the fact that it’s a brazen breaking of the established canon.
Resolved to save his world and everyone he loves, Deadpool steals a device from Paradox that allows him to shift dimensions, hunting for a version of Wolverine he can bring into his reality as a new anchor. He eventually settles on a drunken, morose incarnation who “let his entire world down” and is considered the “worst” possible candidate. Laughing at the audacity of the selection, Paradox sends Deadpool and Wolverine to “The Void,” surely named after the thing MCU fans have been screaming into since Black Widow. The Void is a desolate place filled with heroes and villains who were deemed “unfit” for various timelines, ruled with an iron fist by Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), the psychotic and overpowered “twin” sister of Charles Xavier who tried to kill him in the womb, apparently. For the future of everything Wade Wilson holds dear, he and Logan must put their differences aside, find a way back to the TVA, and stop the “Time Ripper” and Nova before it’s all too late.
There’s a lot about this that shouldn’t work. The most glaring — and this may be a deal-breaker for some — is that we spend almost no time with the characters from the previous two Deadpool films. Wade has broken up with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), Dopinder (Karan Soni) has maybe two lines, Blind Al (Leslie Uggams) gets a few jokes in, and Peter (Rob Delaney) is the only X-Force holdover. Colossus (Stefan Kapičić), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), and Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna) join them in being reduced to background roles at a birthday party for the semi-retired Wade who works with Peter as a used car salesman. Meanwhile, the likes of Domino, Russell, and Weasel are nowhere to be seen, along with Cable, the only one to warrant a joking mention as “not testing well.”
When the title says that this is Deadpool & Wolverine, it means it, and that kind of sucks on a base level. We spent two movies getting to know and appreciate these characters and what they mean to DP, and they’re ostensibly his motivation for everything he does in the story. And yet, they barely even register. A meme-worthy “Dogpool” (animal actor “Peggy”) gets more screen time, as does a soft-spoken alternate version of our hero dubbed “Nicepool.” It does cheapen the story to leave out all these fun and memorable characters in favor of the buddy comedy dynamic between Wade and Logan.
But again, I get the impression that this was the goal all along. The MCU has casually dismissed, replaced, and simply ignored several impactful characters in the past. Kat Dennings and Natalie Portman were left out of Thor: Ragnarok. Rhodey was recast between the first two Iron Man movies. Luis and his gang of lovable ex-cons weren’t even mentioned in Quantumania. The entire tease of Mordo turning into a villain at the end of Doctor Strange was abandoned for the Multiverse of Madness bullshit, and Christine Palmer got married to some rando. The list goes on and on. This has infuriated viewers for years, because while no reasonable person expects full fidelity to the source material, they do expect you to at least watch your own shit and deliver what you promise.
Unfortunately, Feige and his fiends have been far too focused on Easter Eggs, references, and whatever other interconnected nonsense they can cram in amongst the embarrassingly bad CGI effects. This movie doesn’t eschew those tropes, but rather actively indulges in them in a way that presents a giant middle finger (or at least the biggest one they can get away with) to its corporate overlords. Wolverine wears an outfit reminiscent of the 90s animated show (“What would you prefer, yellow spandex?” I hear from the film, answered with a resounding “YES!” from the audience) and says “Bub,” something he basically didn’t do in other flicks. There are cameos, but they’re completely out of left field, and their thematic connection is oddly sweet. There’s a battle of “same vs. same” that actually raises the bar on the trope. Even Stan Lee gets his posthumous appearance in an absolutely inspired gag.
Even though the film has its shortcomings, it’s a success because it offers catharsis. It’s relief for characters defined by their suffering. It’s a resolution for others who only wanted “an ending” that they never got. But most importantly, it’s a long overdue acknowledgement of those who have been bilked out of their time and money by an entity that boasts about how they’ve commoditized their audience. And true to DP’s form, it’s hysterical and ultraviolent throughout. At a time when the MCU is clearly on its last legs and continuing almost in pure defiance of logic, decency, and audience feedback, we need a film like Deadpool & Wolverine, not just to playfully mock all the foibles that Kevin Feige has foisted upon us over the years, but to remind us all that this entire process began with — and always needed — an emphasis on fun. This isn’t a pantheon-level entry, but it’s the last one we’ll probably remember with any fondness, and for having the “nice pair of smooth criminals down under” to at least call even a degree of bullshit, I have to declare it a qualified triumph.
Grade: A
Join the conversation in the comments below! What film should I review next? Do you still hold out hope for the MCU to right itself? What was your favorite Deadpool variant? Let me know! And remember, you can follow me on Twitter (fuck “X”) and YouTube for even more content, and check out the entire BTRP Media Network at btrpmedia.com!
Originally published at http://actuallypaid.com on July 29, 2024.
