“Suck it Fox! I’m going to Disneyland!”

Deadpool

The future of the Merc with a Mouth was uncertain following Disney’s acquisition of Fox, his brand of snarky violence seeming an odd fit for the more cohesive sensibilities of the MCU. Yet, as Marvel continues to flounder in a post-Endgame world, Deadpool’s irreverent return is a shot in the arm even as it looks more to the past than the future. The Time Variance Authority provides a neat excuse to resurrect Wolverine without doing (too much) disservice to his send-off in Logan, an issue addressed directly in the opening scene. However, those hoping that this will advance the MCU’s multiverse plot will be sorely disappointed as Deadpool treats the Avengers with adoration but the bloated franchise with comedic disdain (“You’re joining at a bit of a low point”). Deadpool & Wolverine excels in witty dialogue and absurd physical comedy, unfolding like an ultraviolent sketch comedy as the unlikely pair — the loquacious and the laconic — interact with a swathe of characters on a journey through loosely-connected scenes to save Wade’s timeline. This sadly jettisons the majority of the series’ returning cast for most of the running time in favour of an intellectual property playground. The action is sufficiently rousing, but embracing both characters’ accelerated healing factor also robs the fights of even short-term peril, the opening sequence being the most creative and memorable. Littered with surprising cameos, the film serves as a fitting send-off to Fox’s early investment in Marvel properties before their imminent MCU reboots, though it does little for the characters themselves who are disposable meta-references. This is insubstantial cinema trading on nostalgia like No Way Home, a trick already wearing slightly thin, but as a comedy I laughed more frequently than I have at any recent film.

7/10