“Deadpool & Wolverine” Delivers Humor Without Super Storytelling

Before being assimilated into the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Deadpool stood apart from the wider Marvel landscape for two clear reasons: gratuitous bloody violence and a penchant for irreverent references to the wider superhero culture. His ability to poke fun at his contemporaries with a wink, a nudge and a passing reference to Ryan Reynolds’ acting career set him apart from the rest of the genre, which was otherwise desperate to prove itself worthy of respect beyond its own fandom.

The last Deadpool movie was released in 2018. In that time, the MCU has undergone significant change. For one, it’s a lot bigger, bloated beyond meaningful coherence and reminiscent of the late Roman Empire: progressively unsustainable and seemingly just a few poor decisions from effective collapse. In 2021 and 2022 alone, it produced more hours of content than the previous 13 years combined.

More content demands more interconnectedness, which resulted in last year’s “The Marvels” acting as a direct sequel to three Disney+ series and at least two movies. This overreliance on intertextual references resulted in two distinct outcomes – the first being a notable lull in the MCU’s cultural relevance, and the second being a concerning similarity to the playbook of Wade Wilson. With that being the case, it should have been no surprise that the Merc with the Mouth would be making his grand return sooner rather than later.

The issue with Deadpool entering a universe so crucially dependent on his style is the question of how he could possibly stand out. The answer, it seems, is to push beyond the usual fare of naming actors and obscure comic book characters and move into the realm of obscure internet talking points and historical tabloid fodder. If you thought having to watch every episode of “WandaVision” to understand the latest “Doctor Strange” movie was excessive, I can only hope you’ve done your due diligence in researching multiple celebrity divorces, decades-old on-set feuds, and quietly buried contract disputes.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” is a film constructed predominantly for online nerds, rewarding audiences for knowing which stars were attached to which canceled projects in 2015, and appealing directly to people who consider the brief appearance of an otherwise retired actor from a 25-year-old movie to be comparable to actual character development.

Beyond that, there really isn’t a lot to write home about.

Even without an encyclopedic knowledge of Marvel Studios’ annual shareholder reports, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is still a fun movie – beyond a few stinkers from Reynolds about being canceled or aroused, the jokes all tend to land pretty well. Elements lifted from previous MCU outings, such as the TVA from “Loki” or the Sling Ring from “Doctor Strange,” are explained well enough for a first-time viewer, but there remains an air of impenetrability for new fans. If you weren’t a fan of the previous Deadpool films, you’ll likely find this just as exhausting, but when the movie isn’t insistent on proving that it remembers the 2003 box office, it’s nice to see it remember what made the series good.

The issue is that those moments are few and far between. The movie starts on a relatively strong note, featuring a fantastic turn from Matthew MacFadyen (“Succession”) as a cosmically omniscient middle manager, but as soon as our titular heroes unite in The Void, the film does away with any semblance of plot or drive in exchange for a rotating cast of fan-favorite D-listers ready to line up and get skewered. What follows is an aimless road trip across an increasingly incongruous landscape, pivoting between arid desert, idyllic forest and, somehow, The Shire, without so much as a scene change. Villains, motivation and narrative are put to one side to allow Wade and Logan to snap at each other for 10 minutes, and while it always leads to some snappy dialogue and a fun action sequence here and there, it’s always at the cost of feeling like a real movie.

Huge swathes feel paced like a Monty Python flick, despite still being tied to a three-act structure and the same basic rules of a superhero movie. Despite some fantastic running jokes, visual gags and commendable action set-pieces, “Deadpool & Wolverine” lacks any meaningful consistency as a movie. Individual moments work well – most of which come from Hugh Jackman’s inspired performance as “The Worst Wolverine” – but nothing stands still for long enough to have any lasting impact. Characters come and go like special guests on a variety show – beyond the two leads, it feels like not a single character is given more than 10 minutes of total screen time.

It also doesn’t help that this is one of the most visually uninspired movies to have ever graced the silver screen. The Deadpool franchise, and the MCU as a whole, isn’t exactly known for bold cinematography, but between the often atrocious character CGI and the decision to set over the half the film in a featureless beige wasteland, “Deadpool & Wolverine” does little to avoid the title of 2024’s ugliest blockbuster. For a film so dependent on character and dialogue, it’s not the kind of disaster it could have been, but by the time the movie ends, the idea of a primary color feels like a threat to the senses.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” isn’t an inherently bad movie, but it makes the mistake of attempting to lampoon the franchise without offering any kind of alternative solution. When Deadpool welcomed Wolverine to the MCU with the qualifier that he was “joining at a bit of a low point,” it triggered some of the biggest laughs of the whole runtime. When the credits finally began to roll after two hours of self-congratulation and professional smugness, it became clear the joke was at the audience’s expense.

The MCU is on a downtick, that much is clear, but it seems that, despite his promises, Deadpool is far from the franchise’s saving grace. He may claim to be Marvel Jesus, returning from the dead to save a series destined for disaster, but he’s just another symptom of an unchecked titan refusing to acknowledge its shortcomings.

It’s not “Deadpool 3” — it’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” — and that’s maybe part of why it lands as a disappointment. It’s a film that posits itself as the next stage of the MCU, as well as the closing chapter of the Fox-owned Marvel movies. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really succeed at being either.