Its no secret that I’m a Marvel fan. Have been since the age of 8 or so. The Uncanny X-Men in the late 80’s and into early 90’s were my comic book of choice when I was learning to read. What may not be well known, is I wasn’t super fond of reading. It wouldn’t be for years to come that I’d find out that I was dyslexic. Math, reading, writing, were all something that I’d struggle with one time or another growing up. So, when I say Marvel has a special place in my heart. I mean it.
When Marvel started the path to bring their comic books to the big screen, I was more than a little excited. The old Hasselhoff Nick Fury movie? Saw it. When the original Fantastic Four movie was slated to be released and then disappeared into obscurity? There was amused confusion. Howard the Duck? Oh man, that was weird. It wasn’t until Blade came out in ‘98, that I knew the future of the Marvel movies were here. Blade made way for the X-Men, then Spider-Man and the Punisher. Three of my favorite comic personas hit the big screen and I watched them all day one. They, Marvel, could do no wrong in my eyes bringing the comics to life like they had. Seeing Stan Lee up there with the creations he helped foster onto the page and into real life, was the cherry on top. Perfection.
This trend continued, Electra and Ang Lee’s Hulk were the first two movies to fail the landing, but even those were not enough to deter me from watching the next Marvel Movie. Something that often gets overlooked by critics of those movies, is the heart of the comic book franchise and story was there. Sure there were issues, and Hulk fighting a storm made no sense, even for comics. Still, they had heart. The X-Men too, my beloved X-Men, stumbled in later iterations, and I think it’s here, that the failure of writing began to appear larger, and more pronounced. No longer did it have the heart to sustain a franchise. Missed opportunities to make epic multi-picture story arcs fell flat, for rushed, quick bucks. Fans began to question the Marvel Movies. The Amazing Spider-Man too, had fallen into this hole. Sony and Fox had dropped the ball that Marvel Studios had picked up, and at the time at least, perfected.
Fast forward to today and the current, established MCU.
After the Russo brothers dropped the magnum opus of Marvel Movies, Infinity War and then End Game, there had been a lingering cloud of “what next”. The issues in 2020 and then the writers strike after that, caused a myriad of issues with the MCU. There was by far enough blame to go around. Bad writing, back planning on Marvel/Disney’s part, Fiege was spread to thin, legal issues between the Netflix and SHIELD series and the greater MCU caused disconnected franchises. The MCU was fractured and with the end of their flagship movie series finished, and the great story arc that was the infinity gauntlet, only chaos and uncertainty remained. Since End Game, every Marvel property to come out has been a roller-coaster of failure and success. Many have called it superhero fatigue. But me? Someone who has watched them all since the early ‘90’s? I called it something else: “Bad writing.” There was no love for the comics left. No one in charge of writing the movies, had any regard or love for the source material. Even some of the writers and directors have come out to confirm no one had even read or looked at the comics the show or movie were based on. The Marvel movies had become a platform for whatever story the writers, community, and director wanted to push out. They were given a blank check by Disney/Marvel, because they knew no matter what, it would sell tickets.
My loyalty, my love for the comic books that spawned the movies, had mutated into something I could no longer just ignore, or shrug off. Hulk, Electra, hell even the ‘Hoff’s Nick Fury, were masterpieces compared to some of the flops Disney/Marvel has had of late. I missed the heart of what made the comics great. The love for the project, the source material was gone. And is gone.
I mention all that because context in what I’m about to say, matters.
Deadpool and Wolverine is not a movie. It’s a love letter to those who have been loyal comic book and movie fans. Those of us that have grown up with the comics, and then watched the movies. Who grew up with comic books first, and then the movies. That may seem egotistical and self-important, but here’s the thing. In any other world or avenue, Deadpool and Wolverine shouldn’t have worked.
Was it full of meta humor and cameo’s that to the normal person watching it would understand? Yes. Was it full of inside, I mean DEEP inside references to comic books that inspired Marvel movies, both Fox and Sony, and the entire MCU? Also, yes. Did have the heart of the comics? Most definitely. And only Deadpool could have gotten away with it.
First of all, Ryan Reynolds deserves all the credit for this. If it wasn’t for him, back in 2014, we wouldn’t have gotten Deadpool on the big screen. This was the first domino in a long line of “it had to happen so others could…”. If it wasn’t for the vehicle of Deadpool’s antics and meta breaking abilities, Deadpool and Wolverine couldn’t of happened. Not in the way it did, and not while also bringing the heart of what made comic book movies great.
Were there issues with the movie? Of course, nothing is perfect, as much as I praise otherwise. Cassandra Nova was all over the place power wise. Paradox was, while well acted, was there more or less for exposition. All that being said though, the movie was well put together. The chemistry between Hugh and Ryan was ever present. When the movie needed to be serious, it was. Seeing Hugh and Laura reprise their rolls they had in Logan, was touching. Those two just work GREAT together.
But the part that got me. Was the team-up. I’m about to get spoiler on you, so if you don’t want spoilers. Back away now.
Seeing Channing Tatum as the Gambit we never had, was PERFECT. We were robbed of seeing him play the ragin’ cajun. Snipes and Garner reprising their rolls as Blade and Electra, brought a sense of closure to their characters. They were NOT just wiped off the board like Wanda did in Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. The love and respect for the source material, was front and center. In this case, the source material being previous movies. It was fitting, they had purpose. But seeing them together, and yes, having that fan service there served not only the movie, but the story in a meaningful way. This is where I began to feel this was more then just a movie. It wasn’t until the credits rolled and we saw behind the scenes footage of the making of X-Men, Electra, Blade, ect, that I realized this wasn’t just a movie. It was a thank you to all the fans who had been there from the begging. Even before the MCU had officially kicked off. It was a love letter to fans.
Will the MCU continue down this path and return to the heart of what made the comics and previous movies and shows great? Who knows. Time will tell. I don’t have much faith in it at this point. Deadpool and Wolverine may just be another apex along the roller-coaster that has become the MCU. Marvel has recently made questionable decisions that to me, is a knee jerk response to the failure of leadership and the loss of Jonathan Majors. We’ll see I guess. We’ll see. ‘nuff said.