Arguably the most anticipated movie of 2024 is Deadpool & Wolverine. The moment Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman announced in late 2022, fans went into a happy uproar that Deadpool and Wolverine will finally team up for an epic showdown. To be fair, fans do have a reason to be excited because the first two movies were really good. However, after the release of some of the set photos and some more understanding about the central plot of the third film, that excitement has been dialed back to some concern.
Granted, the past two films have made it clear that Ryan Reynolds understands the character and world perfectly. Plus, him and Shawn Levy produced magic with Free Guy and The Adam Project. On the flip side, several issues are hard to ignore and hopefully, Deadpool & Wolverine will avoid these problems in the upcoming film.
The Multiverse Saga
Right now, we don’t have any official details about the film itself. While there are theories about the latest Deadpool, the only clue we have that it could be a multiverse film is that Dogpool was in the film. Given the craze of the multiverse these days, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Reynolds went in that direction and realistically speaking, there’s nothing wrong with doing a Deadpool multiverse saga. While it would be extremely cool if this was a Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe story, there’s still plenty of fun to be had with Deadpool and the multiverse.
The number of cameos is starting to make the film overcrowded. Reportedly, this film is a goodbye to Fox’s X-Men, while still introducing Deadpool in the MCU canon. Though Logan did a perfect job of capping off the X-Men saga for Fox (I do understand that this takes place before the events of Logan), it would be nice to see some of the lesser characters get a proper goodbye.
But it’s been proven by films such as Spider-Man: No Way Home that overstuffing your film with past characters will mean that some of them won’t get the proper development they deserve. No Way Home was a great popcorn film, but there’s no denying that Sandman and The Lizard felt meaningless because the focus is mainly on Electro, Doc Ock, and Green Goblin. However, the bigger issue is that stuffing the film with so many past names can turn this into a chaotic mess where great ideas are introduced, but they’re underdeveloped because the film has too many things happening at once.
As I previously stated, I’m all for the multiverse saga, but hopefully, Deadpool & Wolverine doesn’t get sidetracked by cameos and side plots that tap on the nostalgia feel.
Go To Meta With The Jokes
Deadpool II is a good film, with memorable moments such as the X-Force dying violently one by one and Domino’s awesome sequence showcasing her luck skill. But what held that film back were the jokes being too meta at times. The first film struck a perfect balance of meta-humor, action, and story. None of the jokes in Deadpool II are hard to understand, but it does take you out of the film when there’s a meta joke that doesn’t directly tie in with the movie itself.
The meta-humor and fourth wall breaking are a big part of the franchise, so hopefully it makes a return in the upcoming sequel. But Shawn Levy and Reynolds should make sure that the film isn’t overstuffed with one-liners that take away from the story at hand. It can easily kill the film’s momentum and prevent audiences from fully investing in what should be a wild story.
The Logan Problem
I mentioned this above, but I understand that this does not have an impact on the tremendous Logan film. However, since it’s been made clear that this takes place before Logan, that means Wolverine is likely not dying. There’s no word on what the future lies with Deadpool following the third film, but it would be shocking if he was killed off here as well, especially since this is supposed to be his introduction within the MCU.
That means Shawn Levy has an uphill battle to climb as there are no stakes when neither character is in real danger of dying. It will be fun seeing these two slicing and dicing each other, but the creator does need to work hard to make us believe that the villains are a genuine threat to Wolverine and Deadpool once they team up. It’s probably a small nitpick as audiences are coming to see Deadpool and Wolverine fight and team up, but it can put a strain on the story if believable stakes aren’t presented.
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