‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Hilariously Roasts Itself While Riding a Wave of Meta Overkill

Alci Rengifo

Is this the future of superhero films? Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” is the latest costumed romp that suggests the lifeline of the genre is turning into hyper meta, endlessly self-referential nostalgia trains. This is not to say it isn’t entertaining. Because of the nature of the Deadpool character, there is a cheerful spirit of mischievous mockery that keeps the energy going. When it’s funny, it truly is funny. Though, this shouldn’t be considered a threequel per se. As the first official MCU movie featuring the raunchy crimson jester, after Disney acquired Fox, “Deadpool & Wolverine” functions as the ultimate fan service vehicle. Its aim is to look back at nearly three decades of comic book movies, while also seeming to be some sort of final kick down the mountain for what used to be 20th Century Fox.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” opens with Wade Wilson aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) literally digging up the adamantium skeleton of Logan aka Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), from the grave we last saw in “Logan.” How did we get here? Well, it turns out that after the events of “Deadpool 2,” Wade was rejected by the Avengers, dumped by girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and became a car salesman. But he’s soon called in by Time Variance Authority (TVA) official Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen). To keep it simple, Mr. Paradox wants to prune Deadpool’s own timeline and offer him the chance to survive if he becomes a willing acolyte. You see, this particular time has lost its “anchor being,” Wolverine. Defying the ambitious suit, Deadpool flees across time to try and bring some version of Wolverine back. He finds a yellow-clad, alcoholic one carrying great guilt. As the two grumble with each other, they are sent to a void or wasteland where discarded characters go, ruled by a power-hungry psychic, Cassandra (Emma Corrin).

This is probably the most upfront, self-referential franchise vehicle since “The Matrix Resurrections.” Shawn Levy directs with the same kind of visual pyrotechnics from his “Free Guy” (also starring Reynolds), but the tone is surely led by the star/producer, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells and Shawn Levy. The timeline-jumping, multiverse plot is simply a convenient vehicle for the gags and endless references. The real aim seems to be to say goodbye to the superhero films of another era. In the void, Deadpool and Wolverine walk by a 20th Century Fox logo that looks like the half-buried Statue of Liberty from “Planet of the Apes.” Millennials who remember the first “X-Men” films from the 2000s will cheer on the constant cameos and winks. Comic book nerds will salivate at visual nods at famous comic book covers from the ‘80s and ‘90s. One spoiler: We even get the dystopian Wolverine from the “Age of Apocalypse” series.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” rushes by like an anarchic free for all where the fan servicing combines with funnier forms of corporate self-jabs. Deadpool welcomes Wolverine to TVA by mentioning the MCU “is at a low point.” He mocks not just the character, but Jackman himself, telling everyone that, “Disney brought him back. They’re gonna make him do this till he’s ninety.” Indeed, Jackman has been playing the steel clawed mutant for 24 years now. During an argument, Deadpool will even point out that Wolverine has mostly been in PG-13 movies except for the great “Logan.” It’s rather brilliant how the character also finally dons his trademark yellow and blue suit, only for it to be mocked by Deadpool (“friends don’t let friends go out looking like they fight crime for the Los Angeles Rams”). Yet, this all gets weighed down by the endless referencing of other movies. Expect cameos, inside jokes and nods about a vast array of titles, ranging from “Daredevil” and “Elektra” to “Blade” and even unfinished, never realized projects. Even “Mad Max” gets thrown into the mix, and it isn’t even a comic book movie.

The question this movie surely raises is how far the meta obsession can go. It’s a trend that really takes off after the massive success of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” where past Peter Parkers were brought in to fight off past villains from the original movies. DC jumped into the fad with “The Flash,” which brought back Michael Keaton’s Batman while attempting some additionally absurd, almost offensive CGI resurrections of past Supermans. With Marvel coming out of their weakest performance last year, when several expensive duds and scandals involving key cast dampened its dominance, Kevin Feige and team are shamelessly aiming at nostalgia for its own sake. The soundtrack is itself an ode to millennial memories, featuring Deadpool killing opponents to NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye.” Sometimes the franchise’s better sense of satire still shines through when that sort of nostalgia is put on hold, like a vicious fight between Wolverine and Deadpool inside a car to “You’re the One that I Want” from Grease. 

It is such a parade of trivia, more akin to a Comic Con convention than a movie, that we’re grateful when it slows down to focus on the themes that made these characters popular in the first place. Deadpool and Wolverine is a wildly entertaining pair because in a sense they are both losers. The former is a blabber mouth who annoys everyone while the latter is a depressive, endlessly grumpy hero, who makes cynical observation while stealing another surprise cameo’s booze. It’s in such moments that we get the best one-liners (“If he survived that, he’s praying for death”). They can get away with the endless carnage, sex jokes (which also verge on overkill) because of their outsider status. Neither one could ever fully relate to the other X-Men, who were the good students to these guys’ misfits. A scene even comes close to genuine, emotional heft when Wolverine snaps and tells Deadpool the cruel, sad truth about his attention-desperate self. Hugh Jackman, who was so good in “Logan,” one of the great comic book movies, can still bring out the pained interior of the character.

Yes, there is endless carnage, sometimes well done with that particular brand of Deadpool humor that verges on medieval comedy. But you have to wonder how well “Deadpool & Wolverine” will age. This isn’t really a “movie,” but a fan service experience that might go over Generation Alpha’s heads in a few years. Even the original “Deadpool” seems so tame now in the wake of bolder satires like “The Boys” and “Invincible.” Now the franchise relies on making fun of itself and its peers. This is a decent enough summer entertainment, with good jokes and energy. It also avoids being too long or delivering another typical finale with cities crumbling. But once the nostalgia kick is over, what’s left? The end credits of “Deadpool & Wolverine” are homage to the making of the previous “X-Men” movies, going back to Bryan Singer’s 2000 original. It is fun for those of us who were there buying tickets for those films, but the great irony is that as fun as this movie is, it also poses the challenge of how this genre now needs to break new ground for itself.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” releases July 26 in theaters nationwide.