Deadpool & Wolverine

For Deadpool fans, it must've seemed like an eternity since the second chapter way back in 2018.  But after all the studio shakeups and acquisitions, here we are at long last.  With Deadpool's man crush Wolverine by his side no less.  A much anticipated return, and for me it did not disappoint.  Several Marvel Comics Universe (MCU) fans - with whom I do not identify - disagree.  Many of them only saw this this summer's DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE to witness the beloved Mr. James Howlett back in action.  After all, he did die in LOGAN back in '17.  Those dedicated souls bravely trudged through endless fifth grade level sex jokes and swearing just to see Wolverine unleash those knives again.  Pious little shits, no? Ahem, that's what Deadpool would say.  

And Ryan Reynolds is as invested as ever as our red outfitted smartass.  The long break gave him plenty of time to, hmm, regenerate.  Just like his character, who cannot die.  Neither can Wolverine.  Um, wait.  He did die.  Deadpool even digs up his bones to try to revive him, to overpower the Time Variance Authority (TVA) footmen who've come to bring him back to Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), who monitors the Sacred (i.e MCU) Timeline.  One different from that of Wade Wilson, who eventually retired from playing Deadpool after being rejected for inclusion with the Avengers.  His life has gone downhill since the last adventure, what with having broken up with his fiancee Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and now selling cars at DriveMax.

Paradox tells Wade that his timeline, Earth - 10005, is slowly disintegrating as its anchor, Logan, is deceased.  He offers our former superhero (still a wisecracker, natch) a chance to be useful in the Sacred Timeline, Earth - 616.  Wade will proceed to travel through time (via unauthorized means) to try to find a suitable Logan to save 10005.  In an amusing montage that references BACK TO THE FUTURE, Deadpool will encounter several variations of Logan before settling on, of course, the worst one.  A drunk and bitter Wolverine.  A team is born. Can they thwart Paradox?  And Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), who rules the Void?

Don't let me spoil any surprises, including the much talked about cameos.  Or the cheeky uses of pop and rock songs.  There's plenty of gore, but it looks so phony I can't imagine anyone being grossed out by it.  Violence ain't what it used to be in the movies.

Much of the fun is watching out titular duo.  Hugh Jackman is in fine form, and gets to be both downtrodden and heroic.  Maybe they have one too many knockdown dragouts, but their banter, like most of the movie, is a gas.  The screenplay's plotting gets twisty.  It was concocted by Reynolds, director Shawn Levy, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Zeb Wells.  There are near nonstop pop culture references and crass humor, but to those dismissing this movie for those reasons, what were you expecting? Only the most constipated, those obsessed with what is "canon" or otherwise will have real issues.  For me, the DEADPOOL films exist to take the piss out of the self-seriousness of superhero sagas, which have dominated the marketplace far too long now.

The movie makes jokes about this.  And the demise of 20th Century Fox.  And all the MCU cliches.  Yet underneath the snark, this is still a Marvel self-hug.  DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE even pauses at times to get serious.  Those moments work well enough, by the way.  As do the moments of heart, which has always beaten beneath the vulgarity.