The cinematic event comic book fans have waited for has finally come. Six years after the second Deadpool film and after Disney’s devouring of 20th Century Fox (the rare case of the mouse eating the fox), the official pairing of two Marvel legends is upon us. Deadpool & Wolverine is big budget summer entertainment done right. This one is a funny, clever, and exciting time at the movies. Director Shawn Levy and his great cast want the audience to have a ton of fun and they certainly bring it in almost every second.

Marvel Studios didn’t have the best luck in 2023, as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania underwhelmed and under-performed while The Marvels was a major financial failure. The studio had a bad start to 2024 as well, with the critical and audience bomb that was Madame Web.

Fear not comic book fans, with a screenplay by Rhett Reese, Zeb Wells, Paul Wenick, Ryan Reynolds, and director Levy, Deadpool & Wolverine is an incredibly entertaining tribute to the titular heroes and their respective journeys over the years. More importantly, it is a film that doesn’t do fan service, but serves fans’ expectations with respect.

A myriad of spoilers prevent too deep a dive into the plot, save for the fact that Deadpool has to stop the villains and destroy a machine that threatens to end our world and all worlds that have ever existed. To save the ones he loves and fight what will become a common enemy, our motormouth hero must track down the proper incarnation of Logan a.k.a. Wolverine. Some of the film’s biggest entertainment value comes from watching Deadpool zip in and out of timelines to track down his future partner, who is now more reluctant than ever. Comic aficionados will be in euphoric heaven as Deadpool takes viewers through the decades of Wolverine’s life.

The ever-expanding MCU “multiverse” (a now-tired plot device that gets a good skewering in the screenplay) gives Jackman a proper chance to return as the most complete incarnation of the former X-Man. Even Deadpool geeks out when Wolverine tears into action, proving himself a dedicated fanboy who is jealous of (and maybe strangely attracted to) Wolverine’s chiseled physique.

The action scenes are very well-handled. Each one is full of the slicing and dicing of limbs while the blood gloriously free flows like a splatter film. Marvel has always tiptoed around “R” rated violence, but now they have gleefully embraced the carnage. One must expect what comes to fruition when “diamond hard adamantium claws” and razor sharp Katana swords are used to mow down hundreds of baddies. The film is at its bloody best during a fantastic action sequence involving Deadpool, Wolverine, a city bus, and a load of… well, that is for the audience to experience first hand.

Everything in this picture works so well and the excitement and laughs never stop, but it is the care and respect given to the two main characters that brings it all together. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have long been perfect in their respective roles as Deadpool and Wolverine. Here, the actors’ personalities combine into a perfect storm of everything that made these two Marvel superstars endearing throughout the decades. Both performances embrace the humor, drama, and surprising emotions of the screenplay and their infectious chemistry is undeniable.

By the third film in a series (for Wolverine, his tenth time on screen) actors can sometimes be too settled-in to a role they have played multiple times. There is always a fear of a performer walking through a film on name recognition alone, lazily rehashing what they have done before. Both Reynolds and Jackman are too smart for that as they continue to make these classic comic heroes feel fresh, adding new and untapped layers to their performances while giving fans what they came for.

Both in front of and behind the camera, the whole production is a powder keg of inventiveness. The well-chosen supporting cast includes a great Emma Corrin, a goofily sinister Matthew Macfadyen, a sort of wasted Morena Baccarin (though her appearances are important), among others. The great Leslie Uggams returns as Blind Al, feistier and funny as ever.

Rob Simonsen’s pounding score is as bold and strong as the film’s action, while the chosen needle-drops are great fun and go beyond the standard ironic use of pop songs in Hollywood action pictures.

Forget about where this film falls in the Marvel movie universe or where everything goes from here. Just sit back and enjoy this impressive blast of excitement. Deadpool & Wolverine is a refreshingly inventive and non-stop thrill ride of hilariously vulgar comedy, bloody action, and enough Easter-eggs and cinematic surprises to have audiences cheering with delight.

This is a supreme summer movie entertainment.

 

Deadpool & Wolverine

Written by Rhett Reese, Zeb Wells, Paul Wenick, Ryan Reynolds, & Shawn Levy (based on characters created by Rob Liefeld & Fabian Nicieza)

Directed by Shawn Levy

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Matthew Macfadyen, Morena Baccarin, Leslie Uggams

R, 127 Minutes, Marvel Studios, 20th Century Studios, TSG Entertaiment