Wolverine has an explosive character (in the TNT sense and not fireworks) while Deadpool is just too much (vulgar, arrogant, violent). The first is played by Hugh Jackman who had assured that he was done with this role; the second, by Ryan Reynolds who made the disfigured mercenary the project of a professional life. Together, even if they have similar powers – they regenerate faster than their shadow since they passed into the hands of the mad scientists of the Weapon X project led… by the Canadian government – they form an unlikely tandem that will shake up the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) whose chaotic Phase V seriously needed an electroshock. Deadpool & Wolverinefrom Montreal-born director Shawn Levy, will give it to him.
For the record, the fate of the two characters was shaken up when superheroes began to take over the big screen: members of the Marvel team, they could not play in Disney’s MCU because their birth certificate (their adaptation rights) belonged to 21st Century Fox. Owner of the rest of the stable, the all-powerful Disney finally resolved the problem in 2019 when it phagocytized the rival studio. The loudmouth and the taciturn can thus enter through the front door at home.
A feature film that is best discovered knowing as little as possible, Deadpool & Wolverine is a crazy film where violence reaches new heights but remains (fortunately) “comic book-like”, where meta references rain down thick and fast like on a stormy summer evening, where bad taste humor has never been so delicious, where “irrelevant” songs hit the mark every time, where the main character regularly breaks the fourth wall (even being aware that he is now part of a mega franchise). And where emotion surges like a jack-in-the-box when saying goodbye to the “Marvel” page he is closing.
Rolling fire
Accomplices and carrying on their muscular shoulders this somewhat messy script written by far too many hands, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are having a blast. Yes, the latter had turned the page on Wolverine in a masterful way in 2017 in Logan by James Mangold. But death suits superheroes (and actors) all the better because it may not be final.
So, six years after the events that occurred in Deadpool 2the Time Variance Authority (TVA), which is familiar to those who have followed the series Loki and which is here entrusted to the formidable Matthew Macfadyen, imposes a mission on a Deadpool who has become a car salesman. A mission on which the future of “his” Earth depends (since there are thousands of others, in other timelines). To fulfill it, he needs Wolverine. “His” having died, he goes to look for one in a parallel reality. Which gives rise to hilarious and silly appearances of different versions of the characters – Spider-Man style in the Spider-Versebut more irreverent.
From there, everything unfolds with rhythm and laughter under the aegis of Shawn Levy. Best known for his comedies and family films, the director confidently and confidently takes over from Tim Miller and David Leitch. Ryan Reynolds and he regularly work together (Free Guy, The Adam Project), we can imagine that their common strike force allowed them not to be crushed by the big MCU machine.
Upon arrival, with its countless cameos and references to the Marvel universe and even others (the scenes taking place in the Void are, to stay in tune, pissing), Deadpool & Wolverinethanks to its lively pace and despite its script imperfections, will delight fans of both Dead Pool precedents and fans of the genre, many of whom suffer from superhero fatigue. From there to saying that the film will put back on track a losing MCU, that still remains to be proven. We hope so. Or not.