In case you haven’t heard, a little underground surprise hit film was released this past week called Deadpool & Wolverine.
SPOILER WARNING! The following contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine! Do not proceed if you wish to avoid spoilers!
MAJOR POINTS
- This long-awaited team-up formally brought Deadpool and Wolverine into The MCU
- The film had a TON of surprise cameos, including multiple Wolverine variants
- The ending seems to imply that all the universes were restored
Happy Hogan denies Deadpool’s admission into The Avengers. TVA Agents grab him during his birthday and bring him before a new TVA Agent named Paradox who asks him to join the MCU. However, it turns out Paradox doesn’t want to save Deadpool’s world, he just wants Deadpool out of it so he can destroy it. Wade and Wolvie fight back but get pruned into The Void which is run by Charles Xavier’s sorta-sister Cassandra Nova. The unlikely duo spends the rest of the film escaping The Void and confronting Paradox in the main timeline.
The cameos are so numerous, you’ll probably miss a few the first time around. As you may expect, they consist mostly of previous actors reprising their roles. They include Johnny Storm (Chris Evans’ other Marvel identity), Blade (Wesley Snipes), Elektra (Jennifer Garner), Gambit (Channing Tatum), Pyro (Aaron Stanford),
MAJOR QUESTIONS
- Is this truly Hugh Jackman’s final appearance as Wolverine?
- Did The Void get destroyed?
- Where is Mobius?
- Is it safe to assume these other variant universes will be seen in Doomsday and Secret Wars?
- Would that make The Void Battleworld?
FINAL GRADE: A
This was exactly what the MCU needed, and I think the film’s performance shows that. That said, several projects are still in the works, so this shouldn’t be any sign of a changed course. It’s a safe bet that the next MCU entry, Agatha All Along, won’t be as entertaining.
All the cameos are well done. I don’t want to give too much away, but there are several sight gags with Wolverine variants. This will probably lead directly into the main Multiverse Saga because The TVA mentioned at the end that other timelines, not just Deadpool’s, were restored.
2017’s Logan was the end of the “Fox Wolverine”. This movie was more like a wonderfully done piece of fan service to those who waited so long to finally see Wolverine in costume on the big screen. Sure, there were a lot of jokes and potty humor, but that’s what we expect from a Deadpool movie. And while you can tell a good Wolverine story with a PG-13 rating, you can tell great ones with the Hard-R that this movie has.