Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Pure fan service. 

And I mean that in the very best way. 

I know a lot of critics love to shit on fan service, but I take a different view. Yes it can be poorly done, but when it is done well, hits a certain sweet spot narratively, it can be very satisfying. I mean what are movies for, especially those tied to a franchise that fans support and cherish, than to be made for the fans? Sure I love it when IP films can challenge our expectations and upend our understandings of the characters and themes we love (I adore The Last Jedi) but I also appreciate it when a film delivers for long devoted fans, a story filled with dialogue referencing our favourite memories and an arc for characters we love, that just makes us smile and revel in why we love these characters in the first place. 

It isn't long into the runtime of Deadpool & Wolverine that we begin to see what this is. It is a love letter to the 20th Century Fox Marvel Universe. While it references the Avengers films, this celebrates all that we loved and didn't love about the X-men films along with the the other stories Fox licenced like Blade, Daredevil, The Fantastic Four, and a few other surprises. It gives them one last shot, and it is as much fun as any Deadpool movie while also adding a sentimentality that would seem incongruous with Wilson's vibe. But D&W walks that line expertly. 

There are likely a lot of things we could pick apart if we really wanted to but why would I want to. I love the Fox X-men films (well most of them) and while I have made my piece with moving on it was truly lovely to get one more adventure in that world. In fact I am likely satisfied with this to the point where I don't want any more. 

Deadpool presents as being entirely irreverent but in the end there is always a large amount of heart, something I have a hard time finding in the MCU. I don't think I want any more mixing of this old Marvel world with the new. So let me have this and we can move on to phase whatever of Disneyfied world of Marvel. 

Deadpool & Wolverine

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Matthew Macfadyen, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Stefan Kapičić, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, Channing Tatum, Jennifer Garner, Wesley Snipes, Aaron Stanford, Dafne Keen, Tyler Mane, Jon Favreau, Chris Evans, Ray Park, Kelly Hu, Jason Flemyng, Vinnie Jones, Henry Cavill, Chris Hemsworth

Director: Shawn Levy

Writers: Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, Shawn Levy