Don’t worry, this is a spoiler-free review, but first, a wee rant. Due to other commitments, I’ve been unable to get to the cinema to watch Deadpool & Wolverine until very recently, so I have been trying to dodge spoilers like a politician dodges questions. Alas, I had a few of the big cameos of the film ruined for me by shitty “journalists” who decided to put spoilers in their headlines and pictures of the actor/character as thumbnails. I’ve not even been looking for articles about the film, just my casual browsing through social media has brought up spoilers that I have been trying to avoid, all because some “journalists” are just complete pricks.

To see where Deadpool is now (on film), from where it began, is really impressive. Does everyone remember that “leaked” test footage 10 years ago? That is how it all began, an almost 2-minute CGI scene of Ryan Reynolds voicing the character. Now, 3 movies later, Deadpool is being touted as the saviour of the MCU. Not my words, Deadpool calls himself the “Marvel Jesus”. Deadpool & Wolverine is a flick that works as a gargantuan “thank you” to the fans, while trying to maintain that over-the-top violence and comedy that is a staple of these flicks. But the big question is, does it work third time around?

As I mentioned in the intro up there ^^^, I’m not doing spoilers. So I can’t really delve into the plot all that much. But the basic gist is that Deadpool is “hired” by the TVA, after travelling to the most important timeline in the MCU, the Sacred Timeline, where all of the main events of the previous films took place, and is given the chance to save his original timeline from deteriorating. Only, Deadpool needs some help, so he seeks out Wolverine… who most definitely died in Logan.

As this is a film that deals with the multiverse, this means that dead Logan from Logan is still dead. This film makes it explicitly clear that this version of Wolverine is gone in a very humorous and very graphic opening action scene. So there’s no need for fans to get all upset of this film undoing the emotional impact that Logan had. It’s just that the whole dead Wolverine thing is handled in a very Deadpool kind of way. After which, the film just slams its foot and the accelerator and doesn’t really let up until the end credits.

Deadpool & Wolverine is a film that has been a long time coming, one that existed outside of the film itself with a several years long-running social media, banter-filled “spat” between Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. And, for me, a film that delivers more than I expected. There’s action, lots of action and a good mix too. Yeah, you have those massive, sprawling battle scenes which have become synonymous with the MCU now. But there are also smaller and more intimate action sequences that (for me) have much more impact. There’s a fight in a cramped car that I think is the best action scene in the whole film, and much more enjoyable than the big ensemble fight that serves as one of the biggest set pieces.

In all of that action, you also get some genuinely heartfelt moments, something that people seem to overlook when it comes to the Deadpool flicks. If I can just go back to the first film for a second or three. One of my favourite scenes is after Wade learns that he has cancer and is in the doctor’s office with Vanessa. While Vanessa is making all of these plans for Wade to live with cancer for the future, Wade (in voiceover) says that he is just trying to remember all the details of her face. You get a couple of similar moments in Deadpool & Wolverine. Yeah, there’s a lot of very visceral, bloody and ridiculous action – but you also get moments that yank on those heartstrings and reminds you that these characters have feelings.

Of course, being a Deadpool film, it is stuffed with references, nods and jokes. Honestly, they could’ve called this Fan Service: The Movie and it would’ve been a very apt title too. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with fan service. It can be done well, and it can be done eye-rollingly badly. I think that a Deadpool film is different to other MCU films. It’s the fact that the character and the films are self-aware. Deadpool knows that he is a superhero in a superhero film franchise, and he can get away with doing and saying things that other characters and films can’t. There are jokes aimed at other films in the MCU (especially after Infinity War/Endgame). There are jokes at the expense of both Fox and Disney. There are jokes that reference real-world events in our reality. There are so many jokes and references in Deadpool & Wolverine that it’ll require more than one viewing to catch them all.

Then there are the cameos. As I said, I had several of them spoiled for me by shit “journalists”. It would’ve been so much better if I had no idea of some of the actors/characters that are in this film. There’s one in particular [NAME REDACTED] that I know would’ve had me smiling from ear to ear, but was spoiled ahead of time. Still, I got a big kick out of it and many others, regardless.

Deadpool & Wolverine is a film that was very much worth the wait. From the moment in the first film when Deadpool said: “I know right? You’re probably thinking, “Whose balls did I have to fondle to get my very own movie?” I can’t tell you his name, but it rhymes with “Polverine”. And let me tell you, he’s got a nice pair of smooth criminals down under.” Fans have wanted to see these two characters together on screen for a good while now, and played by Ryan and Hugh (let’s all forget that X-Men Origins: Wolverine ever happened with that version of Deadpool). I left the cinema knowing that I had enjoyed the film, but in the hours between then and me writing this, and with me now having a bit of time to think about it, I enjoyed it a lot more than I first realised. I can’t wait to give this several more viewings in the future. I think it would be wise to keep in mind that this is not Deadpool 3. This is more of an epic side-quest that could lead to more Deadpool &… films. I hope that we do get a proper Deadpool 3 in the future (this has taken over $1 billion already, another film is a certainty) and I’m sure that we will see the character pop up in future MCU films now that he is part of the universe properly.

Oh, I don’t recall a scene of Deadpool fondling Wolverine’s “smooth criminals”.