'Deadpool & Wolverine' review: The MCU gets R-rated in jubilant, overstuffed superhero mashup

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

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In 2019, the question on people’s minds when Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in a blockbuster deal was how the two studios were going to mesh. After all, Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe wasn’t exactly known for being raunchy, ultra-violent, and, more importantly R-rated. You can see a world in which family friendly Fox properties X-Men and the Fantastic Four could be integrated, but some questioned if Marvel ringleader Kevin Feige would allow a character like Deadpool, a foul-mouthed superhero known for making inappropriate sexual innuendos, borderline offensive remarks, and poking fun at interconnected cinematic universes via fourth wall breaks, would ever find a home under the Marvel Studios banner.  

Within the first five minutes of the MCU’s “Deadpool & Wolverine,” those qualms were quickly put out to pasture, as it’s evident Ryan Reynolds and his usual band of merry writers were given the keys to the proverbial Marvel kingdom with plenty of jokes and, not shockingly, characters at their disposal with the same relentlessly R-rated energy that helped the previous movies stand-out when superhero movies adhered to certain formulas. 

It’s no secret the MCU hasn’t quite found its footing in the post “Endgame” era with recent films missing the spark, innovation, and competence that made peak Marvel engaging. So much so, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is the only MCU film slated for this year and what an installment to help quasi-reset the boundaries and ramifications of what the definition of being an MCU film can actually mean. 

“Deadpool & Wolverine,” is certainly in the upper echelon of entertaining entries in this franchise (it’s certainly the most memorable since “Spider-Man: No Way Home”) and that’s because it seems unrestrained from the shackles of the dense story threads within the MCU (it still has issues in the department that I’ll address later) and it, ironically, ends up playing as not only Deadpool’s grand introduction into this universe, but it also serves as a eulogy/homage/send-off to the 20th Century Fox characters in several touching, sincere, and hilarious ways.

It’s refreshing (maybe a little too much) that the brass at Marvel let Reynolds plant his freak flag and was somehow able to lure Hugh Jackman back into the mix for a mostly rollicking buddy comedy. The movie begins with Deadpool aka Wade Wilson, of course, addressing Disney’s acquisition of Fox and trying to turn his life around by applying to be an Avenger (and cleverly attempting to retcon the events of “Logan,” which saw Jackman’s beloved hero sacrifice himself to save a young mutant). Since we last saw him, Wade’s life has been turned upside down, he’s no longer with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and is struggling to find his true purpose. 

That is until he’s kidnapped by the Time Variance Authority (who you may or may not remember from “Loki”) whose jobs are essentially to ensure the multiverse stays in balance and various, universal timelines don’t get disrupted. Enlisted by someone known as Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen of “Succession” fame), Deadpool goes on a covert mission to salvage his world before it becomes pixie dust. To do it, he needs to track down Wolverine (or a variant of him in other timelines) who is the glue that can save his world. . 

How Deadpool traverses various timelines to try and find the “right” Wolverine does yield a fun montage (set to a prominent “Back to the Future” banger), but don’t try and understand the logistical hurdles, because it’s very convoluted and the more I try to dwell on it, the more my head spins. Eventually, Deadpool settles on a repressed alcoholic Wolverine variant known for being a huge failure to the citizens of his timeline and ropes the brute into a multiversal journey that sees them encounter various locations, surprise cameos, and bloody brawls. With some of the sequences featuring needle drops by NSYNC and Madonna. 

In true Marvel fashion, there’s boatloads of easter eggs and fan service (after 20+ years folks will be thrilled to finally see Wolverine sport the iconic yellow suit and helmet, of which the movie jokingly winks at) and when it sticks to those dynamics, director Shawn Levy seems at ease. What really bogs “Deadpool & Wolverine” is how the studio brass let Reynolds basically do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted. It results in several “huh?” moments that exemplify everything wrong with the corporate branded machine that is Marvel. 

In trying to juggle a gazillion narrative twists and inside baseball gags, plus a nonsensical story involving Charles Xaiver’s twin sister, a baddie named Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), trying to destroy the multiverse, you’re bound to get cinematic whiplash. I feel for those poor moviegoers who only watched the previous “Deadpool” movies, because there’s a smorgasbord of lore and subplots baked in that will probably be confusing if you’re not engulfed in the pop culture of superhero flicks.

But Reynolds and Jackman are a great team and are the living embodiment of these characters. Jackman in particular plays a different, more nuanced version of Logan that gives him slightly more depth than previous iterations. We’ve also never seemed Deadpool and Wolverine in a legacy team-up on screen and the writers and studio don’t take that for granted, taking every opportunity to throw them into the ring, either at each other, or in a climactic battle for the ages that, like a majority of the movie, will certainly finds its place into the MCU history books. For better or worse. 

Grade: B 

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE opens in theaters Friday, July 25th.