Photo Credits: Disney

Deadpool & Wolverine was highly anticipated, starring idols Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. And while it was a fun movie to watch, it was held back by a shallow antagonist, rushed ending, and poor incorporation of the multiverse into the film.

            Let’s start with the good. Deadpool & Wolverine excels in its humour, masterfully incorporating a vast spectrum of jokes throughout much of the film, without those jokes feeling excessive or forced. The humour is complimented by an intentional choice of cameos that appear throughout the film, one of the most notable being the fan-favourite yet largely incoherent Gambit, played by Channing Tatum. These cameos blend nicely with the humour and synergize well with the main cast, while also being involved in the electrifying fight sequences. Tangentially, these battles are wonderfully choreographed and generously violent, without the limitations of a PG-13 rating. Furthermore, the writing in Deadpool and Wolverine is pithy, with a heavy dose of flippant irreverence. Wolverine’s backstory is uncharacteristically serious for a Deadpool movie but flows well within the overarching story.

This movie’s purpose, however, was almost entirely for fan service. The movie did an incredible job in this aspect as it gave exactly what fans were looking for in the over-the-top fight scenes, cameos from memorable old characters, classic Deadpool humor, and, of course, Wolverine’s return. The main issues are that the villain felt a tad shallow, the ending was rushed, and it was yet another multiverse movie which feels like Marvel boilerplate by now.

The villain, Cassandra Nova, was not a great villain. With little development of character or obvious motive throughout the story, she seems only to want the world to burn. Her motive for trying to destroy all of time was that one person betrayed her. Now this may be partly since she has spent a lot of time in a glorified trash heap, but still, it seems extreme.

The ending was not much deeper. It was rushed, and everything worked out too well for the main cast. This makes sense as it is likely meant to be the end of Deadpool’s arc, but it feels like Deadpool and Wolverine should have died at the end to complete the story. However, through the magic of plot armour they live. It also feels like the Time Variance Authority went from enemies to friends in a puny amount of time. Traditionally, Wolverine stories do not end happily, which makes it feel a bit odd that everything worked out so seamlessly here.

As with a lot of Marvel films, Deadpool & Wolverine had a multiversal aspect to it. This was not done horribly, as it was somewhat necessary to preserve the canon of Wolverine’s death. However, multiverses are quickly becoming Marvel’s only gimmick, and nobody wants to watch yet another multiverse film from Marvel.

Overall, the Deadpool & Wolverine movie is worth watching for the violence, cameos and jokes, but its flaws are showing a larger crisis of creativity within Marvel.