HOLLYWOOD—Hands down, “Deadpool and Wolverine” had to be one of the most anticipated movies of 2024, if not one of the most anticipated flicks of summer 2024 and it did not disappoint in terms of its box-office performance. The superhero flick dominated with an impressive $211 million haul making it the highest debut for an R-rated film ever. That speaks volumes.
However, the question worth asking is if “Deadpool and Wolverine” is a fantastic movie? For me it is not, but it is damn entertaining, which is success. Ryan Reynolds has crafted a character that is simply unforgettable. He says what he means and means what he says with little to no apologies at all. His character of Wade Wilson aka Deadpool, is a foul-mouthed superhero who tosses all the morals out of the window and just goes with his gut.
I love that this movie constantly breaks the fourth wall and has our protagonist constantly talking to the audience directly and those are some of the most hilarious moments in the movie, especially the opening sequence that had me in absolute stitches. The movie really pokes direct fun at the fall of movie studio 20th Century Fox that was purchased by Disney.
Let me break this down for you, if you didn’t know, 20th Century Fox had the rights to the “X-Men” films, “The Fantastic Four,” “Elektra” and the “Wolverine” flicks.” This is why you never saw a mesh of the “Avengers” with the “X-Men,” but I’m sure that is going to change in the very near future.
This is important because it opens the door for more storytelling for the superhero flicks, which for those in the dark, Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the superhero universe, but not as Iron Man, but as the villainous Doctor Doom who will take on the “Avengers.”
With that said, “Deadpool and Wolverine” loses massive points for me because its story is not always that easy to follow. Why? It deals with time travel. When you play with time travel the story has to be well-developed or you lose your audience. Some might be able to ignore that element, but I cannot because it is so vital to the pairing up of Deadpool and Wolverine aka Logan portrayed by Hugh Jackman.
Wade discovers that his universe is on the verge of extinction and as a result he meets Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfayden), who works with the Time Variance Authority (TVA). Earth-616 is the ‘Sacred Timeline’ and Wade discovers that it is suffering as a result of the death of Logan aka Wolverine. Mr. Paradox plans to destroy Wade’s timeline meaning everyone he cares about will die.
Deadpool doesn’t take that news lightly and makes it his mission to resurrect Wolverine and save his world from ending. The chemistry between Reynolds and Jackman works. Why? Both characters are not your normal superheroes. They drink, they party, they have sex and they have very foul mouths. The cursing in the flick is gargantuan, and I know I should have warned this already, but this movie is not for kids, but I’m sure that $211 million haul included a lot of kids watching this movie. Not good, but what are you going to do.
As the two superheroes, time travel, they find themselves in The Void, where there is a plenty of surprise cameos that are quite fun to say the least so I will not spoil that. There is a villain in Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), who happens to be Charles Xavier’s twin sister with similar powers to his including telekinesis. Is she a fun villain? To a degree, but I had never heard of the character until this movie, and I have a bit of knowledge about the comic book verse.
The story for “Deadpool and Wolverine” will not wow you, it is the characters that keep you invested from start to finish, and the pacing works clocking in just under two hours. The laughter is relentless, and God knows we all need laughter in our lives with what is unfolding in the world.
It feels like Hollywood is learning all movies don’t have to be two hours and 30 minutes to three hours because that is what everyone else is doing. Is the climax fun? Yes, and it delivers a solid ending that reintroduces audiences to the character of Wolverine and makes you wonder what will unfold next not only in the “Deadpool” universe, but in the “X-Men” franchise.
