“Welcome to the MCU, by the way. You’re joining at a bit of a low point.”

Justin’s rating: Brought to you by the Honda Odyssey and Baby Knife

Justin’s review: You know what’s the ultimate antidote for superhero movie fatigue? Other than, y’know, just not watching them? A good ol’ dose of Wade Wilson, AKA Deadpool. I don’t think there’s ever been a movie series, ever, that’s been this irreverent and willing to bite, shoot, and slice the hand that fed it. Aside from a penchant for over-the-top language, it’s a series that does me so good.

And it’s a testament to the sorry state of Marvel movies these days that the studio had to hold up Deadpool and Wolverine as its 2024 summer tentpole movie — even as said movie mocked and laughed at everything the studio and its movies stood for. But that’s Deadpool for you. He’s going to break that fourth wall and invite you — not the studio — in on the joke.

It also does my heart good to see that Ryan Reynolds finally convinced Hugh Jackman to join him for one last last romp as Wolverine even after the Fox era of X-Men ended and Logan put the burly brawler to rest forever. This is a buddy action comedy a good decade or so in the making, and there was no chance that any of the creative forces behind it were going to go small.

With the death of Logan, Wade Wilson’s universe loses its “anchor point” and is scheduled for swift demolition by the Time Variance Authority. For some reason, that doesn’t sit well with Deadpool, who figures that all he’s got to do is to multiverse himself up another Wolverine and keep the good times going. But after a montage of all kinds of Wolverines (including a height-appropriate variant), all he ends up is with the absolute worst Logan to ever Logan.

But at least this Wolverine’s got — for the first time ever on screen — his classic yellow-and-blue outfit. So that’s got to count for something, yes?

After a knock-down fight between two super-healing, adamantium-equipped anger management poster children, Pooly and Wolvie decide to team up to help each other’s respective universes.

Oh, and because X-Force in Deadpool 2 wasn’t enough geeky fanservice, we now get all kinds of cameos from decades-past superheroes. I’m talking Sabertooth and Toad from the first X-Men movie, Wesley Snipes’ Blade (looking awesome, I must say), Jennifer Garner’s Elektra, and — in one of the best in-jokes — Channing Tatum finally being thrust into the role of Gambit after his long-promised movie was denied. I don’t care how pandering this all is, it brought a gleeful smile onto my face to see these reprises (or first-timers).

One gets the sense that Reynolds and his co-writing cohorts sat around giggling in glee trying to come up with the most audacious nerdy things they could think up, exclaiming, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if we…!” Where they landed was a movie that ruthlessly pokes fun at the overabundance of multiverse nonsense in superhero flicks, the Fox vs. Marvel relationship, and the general ridiculousness of comic books. And why not bring in the Deadpool Corps while they’re at it?

What I really didn’t expect to see is a great deal of affection for non-MCU Marvel movies and the whole Fox era of superhero flicks. And right now feels like the perfect time to invest in that nostalgia, because we had a lot of opinions, encounters, and love for ye olde X-Men, Blade, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, etc. — even if they were flawed and janky.

But fanservice aside, this really is an excellent buddy flick of two hurting heroes propping each other up. Wolverine is haunted by his failure in his own timeline, while Deadpool’s life has gone to crap because he doesn’t feel like he’s done anything significant or worthy.

It’s perhaps the least original and sure-footed of the Deadpool series, and I could nitpick a few things if you pressed me to it. The crass language is more tiresome than anything, the ending is underwhelming, and it really bothered me how most of the supporting cast of the first two movies are shoved waaaaay to the side. Perhaps the element I liked the least is that this whole production felt infected by the MCU template, which leeched some of the credibility away.

Still, it was hilarious, inventive, and featured a superhero team-up that’s been in the making since 2009. About dang time, I say.

Intermission!

• “Marvel’s so stupid!”
• If you ever wanted to see JUST Wolverine’s skeleton, here you go
• “Ugh, death by dayplayer!”
• Well that is not the ‘N Sync tribute I thought we’d be getting in the ’20s
• Gutter got so old and so fat
• “He doesn’t do this sort of thing any more.” “Cameos?” “Meetings.”
• X-Force died because of either gravity or it didn’t test well with the focus group
• “What’s your superpower, parallel parking?”
• Peter’s back!
• “If you could hear the look on my face, you’d smell how sad I am.”
• It’s not a toupee, it’s a hair system
• Feige said that cocaine was off-limits
• “Bitch, are you improving?”
• “This isn’t Pretty Woman, we’re kissing.”
• “That is a ****-ton of exposition for a threequel.”
• Adamantium katanas
• “Logan? The guy with FORKS for hands?”
• Nice Will Smith reference “Get my country’s name out of your —- mouth.”
• Super short Logan! Apocalypse Logan! Crucified Logan!
• “Keep going, audiences are accustomed to long run times.”
• “What are you, the internet?”
• He has a black belt in Karen
• The 20th Century Fox logo
• “Get your special sock out, nerds, this is gonna get good.”
• Oh, this isn’t Captain America Chris Evans. It’s Human Torch Chris Evans. HA. That’s brilliant.
• “Good luck, I’m a huge fan.”
• So many Mad Max references
• “Alioth is in this thing? From Loki Season 1 Episode 5?”
• The Fantastic Four car
• A giant dead Ant-Man can be made into a fortress
• Juggernaut!
• “Huh, Paul Rudd finally aged.”
• “Ugh, Gen Z and their trauma bragging!”
• “And where in God’s name is the intimacy coordinator?”
• So much hate for the Honda Odyssey. Guess what van I drive? Yeah. It’s a great car to fight in, though.
• DOGPOOL
• The soundtrack picks here are *chef’s kiss*
• “Friends don’t let friends leave the house looking like they fight crime for the Los Angeles Rams.”
• Gambit’s accent is hilarious
• “Now Disney gets cheap?”
• “Your power is close-up magic? That’s good.”
• Elektra is OK with Daredevil dying
• “Who is your dialect coach, the Minions?”
• X-23 still has her sunglasses!
• I’m so happy to finally see Gambit in a movie going all out
• There’s only ever gonna be one Blade
• “There’s an Enya boxset?”
• “Disney brought him back. They’re going to make him do this until he’s 90.”
• “Let’s give it a beat to let the extras clear.”
• Van Milder
• “You really are God’s perfect idiot.”
• Donut carts should have triage units
• Puppies make great shields
• The Wolverine mask!
• Nice one-take battle sequence
• PETER!
• Now he’s Spock
• Those end credits are ALL the nostalgia