Can Deadpool & Wolverine really save Marvel? (2024)

Deadpool & Wolverine brings the two characters from the X-Men film series into the MCU for the first time (Credit: Disney)

But could there be hidden costs for Marvel Studios boss, Kevin Feige, in welcoming Reynolds' anarchic anti-hero into the fold? The movie's co-writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, worked on the first twoDeadpoolmovies and were responsible for many of the most outrageous gags; initially sidelined by the Disney powers that be, the pair managed to get themselves re-hired, in 2022.

The script they and Reynolds have put together apparently makes Feige part of the story. We already know, from the trailers, that Deadpool will quip that cocaine is "the only thing Feige said was off limits!" Such comments potentially undermine the authority of a hands-on producer who was once seen as untouchable and, for a certain breed of comic-book fan, god-like. Back when Feige was overseeing the MCU's hot streak, Fox, Sony and Warner Bros were desperate to ape his success. Now Feige is the one seemingly piggy-backing on other people's ideas and the butt of wisecracks that mock everything about the family-friendly multiverse he's created so far.

Meanwhile, there's a tie-in between the new film and Aviation American gin, whichReynolds used to have a stake in (and still has financial links with). A series of limited-edition bottles for the new film showDeadpoolwelcoming everyone to the "Ginematic Universe". A rep from Disneydeclaredthat fans would now have a "chance to engage with the world ofDeadpoolin a whole new way". We're not in the milk and cookies zone, anymore.

What will be 'the Deadpool effect'?

True, Disney's MCU has never been 100% squeaky clean. Remember the polyamorous dolphins in Thor: Love and Thunder; the f-bomb in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and the umpteen dirty jokes in WandaVision? AndDeadpool, himself, isn't 100% naughty. He has a cuddly and responsible side; among other things, he risks his life to save vulnerable kids. Still, the character's amoral vulgarity will certainly cause some Mouse House loyalists to spit out their popcorn.

The marketing campaign has played up a romantic link between Deadpool and Wolverine (Credit: Disney)

ThatDeadpool& Wolverine is the only MCU offering of the year could be read as proof that Disney has capitulated, entirely, toDeadpool/Reynolds' louche brand of snark. And, by ridiculing their own brand, Marvel are arguably creating problems for future MCU endeavours. We get it: adult material and self-mockery are all the rage when it comes to superheroes these days. As proof, see the surprise endurance of Sony's Venom franchise and the high ratings of Prime Video show The Boys. But where does that leave the rest of Disney's multiverse?

According to Variety's London Bureau Chief, Alex Ritman, there's still a huge appetite for what one might call more typical MCU adventures. Ritman recently wrote a piece on Thunderbolts*, which is set to be the last entry of Marvel's so-called Phase Five that began inauspiciously withAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in early 2023.He notes that the piece received "alotof interest, online. I don't think the success ofDeadpoolwill have a detrimental effect on the other MCU movies planned for 2025/2026".

Ritman says Disney know what they're doing. "I've just got back from CineEurope [an annual industry convention, held in Barcelona]. We were shown footage from the movie and watched a message from Reynolds. There was so much [ribbing] of Disney, such an emphasis on the fact that Deadpool isn't your standard Disney film. But the Disney execs are clever folk. They were playing into the mickey-taking. They totally embraced it."

Bad-boy appeal

According to author and Marvel comic-book fan, Kim Newman, "Deadpoolhas always allowed Marvel to poke fun at itself." Deadpoolfirst appeared, in the comics, in 1990. "In every iteration of the character, it's like Marvel are saying to readers, 'You think our characters are kind of assholes? Here's a character who agrees!'"

Newman views the goofy "Merc [mercenary] with a mouth" as an antidote to all things over-earnest: "He's had a hard life. After all, he's a cancer survivor. But he's also a mass-murderer. If that's who you want as your hero, because you're fed up with Captain America, that probably says something bad, right? However, it's understandably bad, because Captain Americaiskind of insufferable."

A new wave of self-mocking superhero films and TV shows also includes Amazon series The Boys (Credit: Prime Video)

For Daily Telegraph critic Tim Robey, the appeal of Shawn Levy's new movie boils down to "boys fighting"– as he says, "lads want to seeDeadpooland Wolverine beat each other up."

A potential romance?

But is there a more romantic side to the duo's relationship? Deadpool is famously pansexual in the comics, and Reynolds, right from the start, has said he wanted to honour that aspect of the character. In the marketing campaign of Deadpool & Wolverine, posters cast the two leads as touchy-feely lovers, a la Beauty and the Beast.

Writer Ryan Gilbey– whose book on queer cinema, It Used to Be Witches, is published next year– is actively irritated by such tactics. "These flirtations hint at more than a bromance, yet don't get beyond the level of schoolyard snigg*ring," he says. "Are these characters going to have sex or aren't they? If that's not a realistic possibility, and there's nothing here to spook audiences when the film is shown in countries hostile to LGBTQ+ rights, then it all feels hollow and opportunistic."

Gilbey is unmoved by the scenes inDeadpool2, where our hero can't keep his hands off his pal, Colossus. "Surely audiences aren't stupid enough to fall for the 'Deadpoolis pansexual' lie? The first film was entirely heterosexual, save for a cartoon end credits sequence of him having sex with a cartoon unicorn. How much longer can the character go on pretending to be sexually omnivorous before he has to put his money where his mouth is?"

Another Disney movie, Inside Out 2, has already overperformed, so could the studio save the summer box office? (Credit: Disney)

It's undeniable that blockbusters with big international markets traditionally limit themselves vis a vis LGBTQ+ representation (or make it so that controversial scenescan be easily cut). That said, it's worth pointing out that two queer characters set to re-appear in the new movie – Deadpool's surly ally Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Negasonic's smiley mutant girlfriend Yukio – have already broken the mould. In Deadpool 2, the pair (who both have qualities beyond their queerness) sit around drinking from mugs that say, "I'm with her". No one could blink and miss the passion and sweetness between them and the audience response was so positive that it's unlikely Reynolds, Reese or Wernick would dare to mess with the chemistry (if they do, fans might not be happy).

Ritman, for his part, is just excited about the return of Rob Delaney's under-gifted everyman, Peter, who, inDeadpool2, became part ofDeadpool's band of desperados because he "saw the ad and thought it sounded like fun". "I love it that Peter's made it into the new movie," says Ritman. "Peter, with his dad bod and his diabetes!"

What its success would prove

Robey, whose book Box Office Poison (Hollywood's Story In a Century of Flops) is published later this year, is keen forDeadpool& Wolverine to do well, simply because "the industry is in the doldrums and we need hits to ensure that films with a medium budget can get made". He also feels the resistance to many of Marvel's Phase Five offerings is part of a wider trend. "The action movies that used to be the studios' bread and butter can no longer be relied upon. We saw that with [the underperformance] of Fast X [Fast and Furious 10] and Mission Impossible 7 [Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One]. Since Covid, audiences will only go to the cinema for special occasions and they can sniff out slightly weaker films." Warner's R-rated Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga lost money, argues Robey, "because the film-makers didn't know their audience".

Right now,after a terrible year all round in 2023, Disney are proving they know their audience again, and making a fortune thanks to the success of Pixar's Inside Out 2. "Everyone's delighted by this record-breaking, joyous, warm-hearted movie," enthuses Ritman. "It's being described as the saviour of the year. And here comesDeadpool& Wolverine, the other side of the coin, that could well be the saviour of super-hero films."

Both sequels will eventually be streamed on Disney+. Inside Out 2 has already joined the billion-dollar club, Deadpool & Wolverine is likely to follow suit. Disney, basically, has all the bases covered. As Newman says, with the biggest of grins, "In Disneyland, if you're fed up with princesses, they'll sell you a Disney villainess. Instead of Snow White, buy the Wicked Queen! That's how you get suckered in. Whatever choice you make, you're still part of that world."

Deadpool& Wolverine is released in US and UK cinemas on 25 July.

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