*THIS BLOG CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE*
I know I have been gone for a long time, but with being busy with my day job and being completely un-inspired by the current state of entertainment media, I honestly considered shutting this blog down. That all changed on July 26th when my faith in good storytelling was restored with the film that may have single-handedly saved the MCU, Deadpool & Wolverine!
The recent decline in Marvel’s shows, movies, comic series (especially Spider-Man comics) has become increasingly worse, leaving Marvel fans with zero hope for something good to feast their eyes on, but then came the announcement of a movie starring both Deadpool and Wolverine, the two saviors of R-Rated superhero movies. There was a lot riding on the success of the movie with it being not only the first R-Rated movie from the MCU, but the first big movie utilizing the Fox Studios X-People to usher in the new age of mutants. After watching this film three times, I can say that the future is looking bright if Disney continues what they started with Deadpool & Wolverine and make movies with people who actually care about the project. Speaking of projects that people really care about, let’s talk about what happened in the film!
The Plot
This tale starts with our favorite merc defile the grave and corpse of the dearly departed Logan from Logan (2017), while using said adamantium corpse to murderize a squad of TVA agents (from Disney+’s original series, Loki) and grooving to some NSYNC, which suddenly get halted for some backstory. We go back a few years to see that Deadpool attempted to use Cable’s time slider to travel to the Sacred Timeline to join the Avengers, which fails because Happy Hogan sees Wade as someone who just can’t make the cut. We fast forward six years to find Wade working with Peter (yes, that sugar bear) at a used car dealership, completely giving up everything Deadpool-related. Peter feels that Wade should get himself back out there to lift his spirits, but he denies he needs that “zest” again.
Peter walks Deadpool home, a one-bedroom apartment he shares with Blind Al, and he is shocked to see his friends there to throwing him a surprise birthday party. As we watch Wade catch up with his friends, we learn that him and Vanessa have broken up, which was disheartening to hear, but we can’t dwell on that because three miniutes after that, Wade gets abducted by the TVA. He is brought forward to Agent Paradox, who informs him that he has been selected to officially join the Sacred Timeline, which Wade then refers to himself as the savior for Marvel:
Wade get a new suit, new swords and guns, and is given a new lease on life to be a hero again (he also saw a spoiler involving Thor crying over his broken body), but all that is cut short when Paradox tells him none of his friends can’t come with him…..oh, and his universe was dying. Paradox explains that the anchor being, an entity of great importance, from Wade’s universe has died, causing the entire universe to collapse. That anchor being who passed was the Logan we saw die at the end of Logan. So, in normal Deadpool fashion, Wade steals a TemPad from Paradox and runs to find Logan, who he believes is still alive because comic book characters can’t seem to:
STAY DEAD!
Unfortunately for Wade, Logan was actually dead. Wade was doomed. There was no hope in saving his universe, whose collapse was accelerated by Paradox using a bomb called a Time Ripper, but not to worry because Wade did the next best thing. Travel the multiverse in search of a Wolverine to replace the one his Earth lost, and in true multiverse fashion, he did this all in a sleek montage. It was jaw-dropping and hilarious to see Deadpool meet with different variants of Wolverine who were each referencing iconic Wolverine-centered comics (all were played by Hugh except for one special Wolvie). Wade eventually finds a drunk Logan who will just have to do and he brings him back to the TVA.
Paradox is baffled and acknowledges that this variant of Logan is considered as the “worst Wolverine”, and he decides to send the duo to the Void, a land at the end of time where the TVA sends the multiverse’s mistakes. An angry Wolverine starts a fight with Deadpool, a badass fight I must add, to which ends with Wade cutting a deal with Logan to work together to return to the TVA to not only save Wade’s universe, but so they can make the TVA fix Logan’s universe (which is pretty shitty because of him). Logan agrees, but they are both captured by villains from previous X-Men movies who got stranded in the Void, and we’re greeted with the return of an amazing and almost forgotten hero, Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch:
Though his return is short lived since he is killed a few scenes later by the movie’s big bad, Cassandra Nova, the twin sister of Charles Xavier. She rules over the Void and reveals that Johnny is part of a band of rebels she has been hunting. After some weird mind tricks, Wade and Logan escape and find themselves in the Borderlands, where they encounter a Deadpool variant, Nicepool and his pet, Dogpool.
Nicepool offers them directions to where they might find the rebels, and he offers his Honda Odyssey for transport. The duo leave the weirdly kind Deadpool and his furry companion and set off to find the rebels, which is cut short when Wade accidentally outs himself as a liar to Logan when he revealed he didn’t know if the TVA could fix the now angry Wolverine’s timeline. Wolverine doesn’t even try to kill Wade, but he stabs his heart and soul with harsh words that every Deadpool has heard before, “Your can’t take anything seriously, and you’re a joke. The even bigger joke is that you can’t die, but that joke is on the rest of us”. This leads Deadpool to kick Wolverine’s ass, turning the Honda Odyssey into the elevators from The Shining, and both of them pass out from the blood loss.
When they awake, they find themselves in some kind of base, which is where they meet the rebel fighters Johnny was part of. If you thought the Human Torch was the biggest legacy cameo the movie had, then wait until you see the rebels:
Elektra, Blade, Gambit (played by Channing Tatum), and Laura (aka X-23 from Logan) represent the forgotten universes and universes that never existed (such as the canceled Gambit movie starring Tatum), but Deadpool inspires hope in these heroes to storm Cassandra Nova’s stronghold, and stop her while also helping Deadpool return home so he can carry on their legacy. Before the raid, Laura has a heart-to-heart with Logan, where Logan reveals that the reason he is the “worst Logan ” is because he never wanted to be a hero and he let the X-Men die, and he has lived with that regret ever since. Laura then shares that her Logan didn’t want to be the hero either, but he knew when to rise up when the people needed him. She even remarked that neither this Logan nor her Logan were the “right person for the job”, but they were both the one who were needed.
The next day, the heroes storm the stronghold, overpower Cassandra Nova and force her to send Deadpool and Wolverine out of the Void. Cassandra manically refuses, and in a twist is shot by her soldier, Pyro. Wolverine convinces Deadpool to help her because that’s what Charles Xavier would do for her, which pulls Cassandra out of her hatred for a moment and helps the duo escape the Void (by using a sling ring possessing both the time and reality infinity stones).
Wade and Logan literally drop in on Peter at his job upon arrival, and the duo rush to stop Paradox from using the Time Ripper. They are both unfortunately stopped by Cassandra again, who forces Paradox to activate the bomb so she can absorb its power so she can erase the entire multiverse, with only the Void being left. Deadpool and Wolverine would have stopped her quickly, but Cassandra enlisted help from the Deadpool Corps.
It was cathartic to see so many Deadpool variants in one place, all of them with murderous intent just like in the comics. Unfortunately before the fight started, Nicepool gets killed when our Deadpool uses him as a human shield, unknown to him that Nicepool had no powers, but his death was not in vain! Deadpool and Wolverine charged into battle to avenge Nicepool (not really), and together they killed all the Deadpool variants (except Babypool, she’s too cute). Unlike Nicepool, the other Deadpools had a healing factor and got back up like nothing. It wasn’t until the mighty Peter rode into battle in his Deadpool suit, dubbing himself Peterpool, to save Wade and Logan. All the Deadpools were starstruck to see Peter (as they should), with the Deadpools revealing that Peter is a legend in every universe.
While the Deadpool Corp fan-girl over Peterpool, Deadpool and Wolverine rush to stop the bomb, but Paradox reveals that shutting down the bomb’s power core would have to involve one of them sacrificing themselves, and their healing factor would not save them. Wolverine agreed to sacrifice himself to save Deadpool’s world, but at the last second, Deadpool throws himself in harm’s way to save Wolverine. Deadpool was about to shut down the bomb that would end his life, but Wolverine forces himself into the core room and they both shut down the bomb, killing Cassandra Nova.
It all ends on a happy note; Paradox got arrested by the TVA for going rogue by using a Time Ripper to destroy a universe, Deadpool and Wolverine survive the bomb shutdown, and the leader of the TVA, B-15 (from Loki), recognizes the duo’s heroism and restoration of their universe and allows Wolverine to live there. B-15 finds new homes for the rebels (shown by having Laura live in Wade’s universe), Wade gets to keep Dogpool as his companion, and there is a glimmer of hope that Vanessa and him may have another chance together.
My Thoughts
First off, I lost my shit when Logan FINALLY wore the mask! WITH WHITE EYES TOO!!! (I should have worn my white pants.)
Nothing brings me more joy when the live action variants look like they were ripped right out of a comic panel, and that’s not just for Logan. I was in shock and awe seeing Channing Tatum as Gambit, and his cajun accent was pretty damn good based on the videos I’ve seen about cajun accents. Oh, and freaking Blade and Elektra were fantastic, and I enjoyed the little dig that Blade made at Disney for saying that “There only ever will be one Blade”, due to the new Blade reboot’s script getting rewritten for the past few years.
Speaking of these cameos, I understand they were used for the “wow factor”, but they honestly did the plot more justice. It was a clever idea to bring in discontinued movie characters as citizens of the Void instead of just traveling to each of their universes, a major improvement over what we witnessed in Multiverse of Madness.
The plot did feel incredibly meta, which is usually a recipe for disaster, unless you’re Deadpool. The meta-humor worked effectively well when you understand that Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy both knew how much freedom Disney was giving them just out of desperation because the recent movies from the MCU have been quite lame since Avengers: Endgame, so it was hilarious as a Deadpool fan to see that Mickey Mouse essentially take “back shots” from the merc with a mouth to save the company.
Overall, this might be my new favorite Marvel film of all time. I’d give this a 10/10, with an additional 5 points awarded for the Fox Studios tribute that played during the credits. If you have not seen this film yet, I strongly urge you to wreck your wallet and go watch it, and maybe treat yourself and see it in 4DX. With the success this film is bringing in, I can only hope that this will welcome in the new age of X-Men movies for the MCU, with my only hope being that those IPs are treated with the respect they deserve. Perhaps this movie has taught Marvel Studios that a movie doesn’t need to rely on star power alone to make money, but they can only truly thrive with a good story. If they just spend enough time building up new characters and new stories, instead of just re-using popular actors just for views, maybe they can make something fantastic.
I think as Marvel fans, we’re going to be okay.
DAMMIT!
This is your friendly neighborhood cosplayer saying goodbye, and see you next time.
Hall of Mercs 