Arts & Culture

Deadpool & Wolverine
Where: In theatres
What: Movie, 127 mins.
When: Fri., July 26
Genre: MCU
Rating: NNNN (out of 5)
Why you should watch: Inside jokes, comic hero cameos and acerbic wit power MCU’s satisfying attempt to revitalize the universe with laughs

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE doesn’t just break the fourth wall, it smashes the shit out of it like Thor’s hammer crashing through particleboard.

Only this wall is destroyed by motor-mouthing wise-ass Deadpool/Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), Marvel’s attempt at comic relief for their overwrought universe that has been in serious decline. This is the only MCU release in 2024 after a string of duds. And the status of Marvel’s former rivals, 20th Century Fox, and current Disney overlords are all fair game in a film dripping in verbal Easter eggs. And it’s rammed full of comic hero cameos and enough inside jokes to unleash millions of nerdgasms worldwide.

From Deadpool’s whispered wisecracks during the opening Marvel credits, the derelict-but-somehow-adorable superhero mutters often-outrageous asides pretty much nonstop. It’s as if comic-loving Beavis and Butthead got an advance copy and their “DVD extras” commentary formed the film’s soundtrack.

The film opens with Deadpool digging up the grave of Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), who was previously killed in a martyr’s death in MCU’s Logan. ’Pool is convinced the “regenerative” qualities he shares with Wolfy will allow him to prod the hero’s corpse back to life. Doesn’t quite work out that way, but a mind-numbing narrative trail of time travel eventually leads to Deadpool finding a “functioning” Wolverine. He needs the reluctant hero’s help to save Deadpool’s World, details of which prove largely unimportant though more time travel and parallel universes present themselves.

The narrative is secondary in a film that prioritizes deconstructing the MCU for laughs with periodic, bloody fight scenes featuring massive, absurd body counts and action that could be lifted directly from a video game. The lead characters’ regenerative abilities remove any suspense, and no heroes will be dying or permanently maimed, so the scenes are more dances of destruction than suspense-filled battles. Even with the many inventive ways to die on offer, the fight scenes — though amusingly matched with a vintage pop and rock soundtrack — grow a little overfamiliar eventually.

The film’s Bad Guys include besuited Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen) a disgruntled, employee-mastermind of the shadowy organization that routinely destroys worlds played by the Succession star who specializes in smarm. Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), X-Men main man Xavier’s sister, oversees a postapocalyptic world/purgatory that brazenly rips off the visual pallet of Furiosa-era Mad Max films, prompting much amused muttering from Deadpool.

There’s no point in spoiling cameo fun but know that many Marvel-lovers in the Toronto preview screening broke out into spontaneous applause at the surprise appearances of some of their heroes.

Star, co-writer and beloved Canadian Ryan Reynolds has made sure there are some good cracks about his homeland and even co-star Jackman’s film and Broadway careers aren’t safe from Deadpool’s barbs. And that’s the point; this major Hollywood production feels like major Hollywood productions, and just anybody and anything else is fair game for awesome ridicule. The running joke of cocaine euphemisms is spectacular and a good indicator of where this occasionally hilarious film is prepared to go.

Happily, the sharp edges in this film aren’t limited to the many knives and swords on view — it’s an essential part of the satisfying humour.