The Marvel Universe is back, baby! Is what I would say if I were into saying silly things like that. At the very least, Deadpool and Wolverine are back, and that’s good enough. I’m a big fan of the first two Deadpool movies, I’m a lukewarm fan of all those Fox X-Men movies, and I’m a huge fan of the MCU movies, so I went into Deadpool & Wolverine very excited. The movie only sort of disappointed.

Movie Rating: 8/10 – Very Good

Yep, I’m one of those people who didn’t completely and absolutely love Deadpool & Wolverine. I’ll obviously explain why in the thoughts below, but mostly the abundance of cameos/Easter Eggs did not outweigh the crummy story/plot. I thought the performances were great and had fun with the cameos, but they alone do not make a movie — especially since some were either already spoiled for me months ago or some were just predictable.

A surprise cameo just isn’t very fun when my reaction is, “Oh OK, so they went with him/her, gotcha.”

At any rate, let’s get this review underway! Join me after the jump for my full review and thoughts on Deadpool & Wolverine. Expect FULL SPOILERS for the whole movie and all the cameos/Easter Eggs. And feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments below.

6. It was an entertaining movie

Deadpool & Wolverine was a fun and entertaining movie, and I largely enjoyed myself. It was funny enough, it had plenty of action, it had enough of a story to keep things moving, and the actors were all solid. Ryan Reynolds took a bit of a backseat to Hugh Jackman’s return as Wolverine, and then Jackman gave this role his everything. He was the real standout. I enjoyed his emotional moments. I enjoyed the character arcs of the two main characters.

And that’s probably the most all-encompassing, generic review I can give of this movie, because this movie is all about one thing in particular, and we’ll get to that in a moment.

5. The story and humor were not as good as the first two

The first two Deadpool movies are pretty much perfect. They’re hilarious in their own right, with humor based on the moment and not just on references. And the stories are rock solid. From the love story/revenge of the first film, to Deadpool’s efforts to save Russell in the sequel; the first two Deadpool movies are pretty much equal in quality, humor, storytelling and being damn good movies.

But this third one kinda screws the pooch. The story is very threadbare. Random dude at the TVA just happens to have a device that will destroy Deadpool’s timeline, but it just happens to take three days to get ready? And he just tells Deadpool he’s going to destroy his timeline and doesn’t expect notorious wildcard Wade Wilson to do something? And then the entire movie is just Deadpool and Wolverine trying to get back to stop the guy within those three days? Eh.

The humor just wasn’t as strong as the previous movies either. Most jokes were references. Honestly, every joke is probably a reference, I don’t fully remember but wouldn’t be surprised. They weren’t as sharp, they weren’t as funny. And I wouldn’t blame Disney either. From everything I’ve seen or heard, Reynolds and his dudes wrote the script they wanted and made the movie they wanted. I think the problem is that they were given too much free rein and were therefore too unfocused.

4. The cameos/Easter Eggs came first

I think the creative team was too excited to make Disney/MCU/Fox jokes and they focused entirely on that, then came up with the story afterwards to string all their jokes, gags and cameos together. And that isn’t as kosher as I would like. I like a good Easter Egg as much as the next person, but they couldn’t even be bothered to track down or hire all the same actors from before (they got some of them). And then the big reveals were mostly fine. I knew about Jennifer Garner as Elektra, that was spoiled. I didn’t know about Wesley Snipes coming back as Blade, but that really was more of a nod and acknowledgement from me than any sort of excitement. And Dafne Keen as X-23 was spoiled in the final trailer and the lead up to the film.

Oh wait! Chris Evans as Human Torch was a good one. I thought he really was Cap for a second, having completely forgotten about him as Johnny Storm. So that reveal was a hoot, I gotta admit, and made for a solid running gag for the rest of the movie. But most of the other cameos and Easter Eggs and references were just alright.

With one very special exception…

3. I called the Gambit cameo!

I knew they were gonna have Channing Tatum as Gambit, I just knew it! I did a List of Six in March of this year listing the characters I wanted to see cameo in this film…and I only got one of the six guesses correct. Oh well. But that guess was the important one: Channing Tatum as Gambit! Considering Tatum’s penchant for short, funny movie cameos, and considering the nature of Deadpool’s sense of humor, this one was almost a no-brainer. I’m rather tickled at how they pulled it off. Full costume, full powers, the accent; this was pretty much madness. And good for them for pulling it off!

2. Iris and Good Riddance in the same movie!

I am a millennial of a certain age and there are songs from my youth that hold a certain special place in my heart. Among them are “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls and “Good Riddance” by Green Day. And we got them both in the same movie! We got plenty of great music cues in this film, like “Bye Bye Bye” and “Like a Prayer,” but Iris and Good Riddance are the ones that bring me joy! I also really enjoyed that love letter to the Fox Marvel films that ran over the credits. Good times in the end.

1. I still don’t want this Wolverine to be in the MCU

So the movie ends with this version of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine joining Deadpool’s newly revived world, and both characters remain available for use in the future. They haven’t been brought over to the MCU timeline, but clearly they exist in the Multiverse. I don’t care. I do not want Hugh Jackman to play the eventual MCU Wolverine. I want Marvel to start from scratch with their own original X-Men. Perhaps it will happen after Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027; whenever. Start from scratch, don’t hold on to the past and make it awesome. Surely after 20 years of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine some other actor exists out there who can play the character. Find that person and make movie magic!

All that being said, I would totally be open for a Deadpool & Wolverine 2 or a Deadpool 4. Either would be fun.

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