I absolutely hated Deadpool and Wolverine. I didn’t think it was very funny. It was groan-inducing. This is a messy and unfocused film. It is a collection of middle-school fart jokes and cameo scenes stitched together to make a poorly written mess of a film.
Yes, it was dumb fun. If you turn your brain off and give in to the cash-grabbing nostalgia, its OK, I guess. Just admit that is the standard for MCU films now.
It was the only MCU in 2024, full of nostalgia member berries, and featured Hugh Jackman and canary yellow uniform. The glorfied supporting roles of Gambit, Blade, Elektra, and X-23 cosplaying as cameos did not hurt either. That is why it was a hit.
The film did not progress a larger, overarching MCU plot or phase, and now seems more like a standalone curio than the short-lived pop culture juggernaut it was.
Deadpool and Wolverine: A Wasted Opportunity
Deadpool and Wolverine is a deeply wasted opportunity of a film to develop the character of Wade Wilson. I know, it made $1.3 billion and was the biggest R-rated superhero film ever. Just keep this energy when the MCU is churning out mindless, campy films like this for the next decade; films devoid of basic storytelling and characterization but full of comic accurate costumes.
Disney, which has been struggling since Endgame, will learn all the wrong lessons from this success. Just jingle keys in front of the fans, serve nostalgia and bright colored costumes, and the fans will come.
If you loved this film, I’m happy for you. Please go watch it a few more times. I’m speaking for myself and I won’t be shouted down by fans who have complained about MCU movies having bad writing and characterizations for years now.
I just think a comic book film is not a comic book and this film is a living comic book. Fans should demand more from their MCU films. Here are 10 reasons why I hated this film. Also, I will recommend a great Deadpool comic you should read instead.
1. No Compelling Story or Plot
Deadpool hasn’t had a compelling characterization since his first film. He’s an emotionally stunted 15-year-old in an adult’s body. He has not changed since 2016’s Deadpool. His relationship with Vanessa also regressed (Morena Baccarin was wasted in this film.)
Why does Deadpool want to join the Avengers when he was trying to make his own team, X-Force, in 2018’s Deadpool 2? Why is he a car salesman and not an assassin for hire? The plot was so contrived and created weird situations for bad jokes about pegging and the MCU to kill time to get to the cameos.
2. Deadpool Has No Agency
Think about Tony Stark’s character arc from 2008’s Iron Man to his final appearance in 2019’s Endgame. His character development from a self-absorbed playboy and weapons profiteer into the hero of the universe was complete.
Think about Steve Rogers’ character arc from 2011’s Captain America through to 2019’s Endgame. Think about how naive Rogers was in his first appearances, to how shady he was in 2016’s Civil War, to his decision in 2019’s Endgame.
No one goes to MCU films to see Shakespeare. Still, it can’t be denied that the Infinity Saga characters had arcs. Deadpool is the same character we met in his 2016 film. He seemed to grow a little in the 2018 film, trying to find his purpose as a hero.
But his character regressed in Deadpool and Wolverine. He and Vanessa seem more like troubled teens than an adult couple. Why he is hopping timelines at the start instead of being with Vanessa or maybe launching X-Force?
By the end of the film, his character is reset to where he was at the beginning of the film, when he was a nobody.
3. Wolverine’s Return Was Wasted
Hugh Jackman is one of this generation’s most talented actors. His 2017 Logan sendoff was a masterpiece. The Logan in this film was just a worse verison of the character in the 2017 film. The canary-yellow Wolverine in this film is the worst Wolverine in his timeline. He sulks, hates himself and everyone, and just exists to play the buddy cop role to Deadpool.
This Wolverine had no compelling characterization or reason to exist in this film. Logan just became a gimmick. That unending and unfunny opening credits sequence with Deadpool desecrating the grave of the 2017 Logan was groan-inducing. It also was a stark reminder of a much better film.
4. Wolverine is Nothing But a Canary Yellow Costume
There is a legendary line in 1999’s X-Men where Wolverine mocks the team’s black costumes. Cyclops cynically asks him if he would prefer yellow spandex. Comic book films are not comic books, and everything can’t be comic book accurate in a film.
Wolverine in a canary yellow costume serves no practical purpose except as nostalgia bait for fans. Deadpool wears a red costume because it was always gets stained with blood. Besides 1999’s X-Men and 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, Wolverine did not have a costume. It just did not have a narrative purpose in the films.
I’m not against it, I’m just saying there should be a reason. Fans got their comic-book-accurate Wolverine, not a compelling narrative reason for his return. The mask with the white eyes is just ridiculous.
5. We Won’t Get a New Wolverine Anytime Soon
Hugh Jackman will be 56 soon. He is in better shape than me, but sometimes, you’ve got to let go. He did the right thing in 2017’s Logan, but that sendoff is now undone. There was one joke in this film where I laughed out loud: Deadpool said Disney will make Jackman play Logan until he is 90.
Fans are not going to let go of Jackman easily. The multiverse is confounding enough. In Captain America: Brave New World, adamantium was introduced. So, will there be a new Wolverine and X-Men cast? Or, will we have to wait until after the next Avengers films at the end of this decade? This film was too successful to let Jackman go easily.
There is no confirmation that Jackman will be in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday. I would be shocked if he did not show up. Still, what would be the reason? If that film is a success, how much longer will Jackman play Wolverine?
6. Narrative and Timeline Chaos
The never-ending title sequence and Deadpool desecrating the adamantium-clad corpse of Logan from the 2017 film were annoying to me. I really like that film and it felt disrespectful. However, the more I thought about that scene, and rewatched Logan, the less sense that scene made.
The scene was meant to reassure fans that the Logan from the 2017 film was really dead. However, 2017’s Logan was set in 2029. Deadpool and Wolverine are set in 2024. So, how can this be possible? I guess he was using Cable’s time travel device from Deadpool 2, but it is so confusing when he begins universe-hopping.
Also, since Logan is the “anchor being” of his universe in this film, doesn’t that make him more important than Deadpool? Why would Deadpool find the drunkest, most self-loathing Logan variant to work with?
How does this film connect to the greater MCU? If I don’t understand why they are in this film, then how will seeing them in upcoming Avengers films make sense, if they appear?
I should not have to read Reddit theory posts to understand the plot holes in this film.
7. Too Many Characters Who Were Wasted or Underutilized
For a film called Deadpool and Wolverine, there was an Endgame-level number of characters present. Everyone in this film did not get proper character development or arcs.
Why couldn’t Deadpool involve Colossus, Shatterstar, or Negasonic Teenage Warhead in his quest? Why include these characters for such a short time and then switch to a parade of cameos? Gambit, Elektra, Blade, and X-23 did not feel like full supporting roles, but they were not cameos either.
There are just too many characters to serve and not enough satisfying plot motivation to justify Deadpool’s actions.
The TVA, Cassandra Nova’s crew, Deadpool’s family and friends, the denizens of the Void, and the multiple universes Deadpool visits showcase too many characters that don’t move the plot along. (Why was Henry Cavill in this film?)
The story and plot were sacrificial lambs to connect cameos and jokes, and nostalgia.
8. Paradox’s Motivations Made No Sense
Mr. Paradox, a TVA agent, has to know what kind of man Deadpool is or should know. What did he think would happen when he explained that he was going to destroy Deadpool’s timeline? Why would he believe that Deadpool would roll with the program?
Also, the TVA stopped pruning timelines in the wake of the Loki Disney+ show. If Paradox’s plan was to make a name for himself by pruning timelines in an agency where that is now verboten, then how would that help him?
If Paradox has access to the Void, why does he need the Time Ripper? Couldn’t he just accelerate the destruction of these universes by shunting anchor beings to the Void, like he did with Deadpool and specifically Wolverine, an anchor being?
As I said before, Deadpool has no agency in this film. Deadpool does not make things happen; he gave up, stapled a wig to his head, and sold used cars. If the TVA had not contacted Deadpool, the events of this film could not have happened.
9. Casandra Nova’s Motivations Made No Sense
Casandra Nova made her comics debut in New X-Men #114 in 2001. I still remember reading those stories. She is an amazing character who was wasted in this film.
Why would Nova want to rule the Void if she is aware of the outside world?
Nova acted like a psychopath when first introduced. Then, she develops a heart when Deadpool and Wolverine try to spare her in a fight?
Also, why would she want to destroy the other timelines so she can rule the Void, which seems to be inhabited by 30 people tops? How did the Time Ripper destroy such a powerful being? (Anti-matter and matter McGuffins were played out in the 1970s and 1980s sci-fi.) It felt like such a “cross the streams!” moment.
Paradox and Nova didn’t have any plans or purpose. They just did things to help connect the various jokes and cameos in this threadbare plot.
10. Deadpool and Wolverine Were Not a Compelling Duo
The fight in the van was the only scene where I enjoyed the chemistry between Jackman and Reynolds. The fight in the van happened because Logan called Vanessa a stripper unworthy of Deadpool’s affections. The scene was compelling but only served to introduce us to the cameos and supporting actors in the films, not advance the plot.
Otherwise, Deapool would crack a joke. Then, Wolverine would tell him to shut up, be cranky, or complain that he was a loser and not worthy of the X-Men he failed.
Also, it’s weird Deadpool chose the drunkest and most cranky Wolverine as the savior of a timeline that was doomed already. (Logan was needed to fix this mess since Deadpool has no agency or use except to crack jokes.)
After this suicidal, drunk, and antisocial Logan realizes that Deadpool lied to him about rescuing his timeline, why would he continue trusting him? Yet, Logan happily becomes friends with Deadpool at the end. And this is after it is apparent that while Deadpool lied about saving Logan’s timeline, only Deadpool’s timeline is saved.
That makes no sense, especially with how hostile and depressed Logan was for 98% of this film.
Also, Deadpool and Wolverine stabbing and slicing each other with no effect got old quickly. They both have healing factors. It was like beating a dead horse that keeps resurrecting itself, and dying, because you’re beating it.
Read This Instead: Spider-Man/Deadpool Omnibus
If you want to read a great comic book team-up series, then I recommend that you read Spider-Man/Deadpool, a 50-issue comic book series that ran from 2016 to 2019. Deadpool had just joined the Avengers, and Spider-Man left because he didn’t think a mercenary and killer like Deadpool belonged there.
The two characters challenge each other’s morals while teaming up to fight threats. I guarantee you will enjoy this series if you enjoyed this film. Get the Spider-Man/Deadpool Omnibus paperback for $40 at Amazon now.
Deadpool and Wolverine: A Nostalgia-Bait Masterpiece
If you love this film, don’t let me dampen your enthusiasm or interfere with your low standards. It’s a fun popcorn film if you don’t take it seriously or pretend its events will matter in future MCU projects. I don’t know why this film had to happen, how it connects to the MCU, or have a desire to watch it again. This film has no re-watch value.
Deadpool and Wolverine Wall Art
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It’s suitable for MCU fans, comic book fans, Man Caves, or as a gift.
Buy it now on Amazon for $27.99.
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