Deadpool & Wolverine Is Barely An MCU Movie At All

Summary

Deadpool & Wolverine doesn't have much of a plot, but fans probably won't mind.
The characters don't join and barely interact with the MCU.
It feels a lot more like an ending than a beginning for the series.

There are lots of opinions flying around about Deadpool & Wolverine right now, and it's hard listening to any of them. Deadpool has always billed itself as a fun comedy series, so it's tough to take people seriously who feel this spells the end of popular cinema, the death of the MCU, and a sign that society as we know it is doomed to forever feast on slop - Oppenheimer cleared a billi♊on at the box office last yea✱r, let's calm down.

At the same time, there is no excitement in Deadpool & Wolverine either. It doesn't answer any questions about how Fox heroes will move into the Marvel pantheon, failing to even introduce its titular heroes to the MCU proper. A tease with Thor almost certainly wasn't roadmapped given the next Thor hasn't been announced or started looking for its director, and Kevin Feige's claim that this movie is an 8/10 on a scale where Endgame's universe-shifting impact was a 10/10 is at least seven points too high.

Deadpool & Wolverine Might As Well Not Have Happened

Deadpool & Wolverine looked surprised in Deadpool & Wolverine

I have no skin in the game with Deadpool & Wolverine. I don't love it. I don't hate it. I don't even like it or dislike it. I saw it and then it was over, and that's basically all I have to say about it. The only coherent thought I have on it is that it would be a relief that Robe꧅rt Downey Jr. as Dr Doom moved the Marvel conversation on so quickly, if not for the fact I think that's a really bad idea.

It's a movie that ultimately means nothing. It's not even really a movie - it's a series of vignettes disguised as a movie. Deadpool's probably the one hero who can get away with that, and for a certain type of fan, the vignettes are at least enjoyable. Channing Tatum as Gambit is a good gag, even if they draw it out. But it's a Marvel sketch comedy. A clip show for a bunch of clips that didn't happen. Background noise, both in our lives, and to the MCU.

It's by far the weakest Deadpool movie, by virtue of (again) not really being a movie. The first one gets a lot of credit for making Deadpool and his fourth-wall schtick work, and the second one gave being a proper superhero movie an honest to Odin try while keeping that gimmick up. Deadpool & Wolverine is action figures at the kitchen table, but this isn't really a comment on the quality in any case.

Deadpool And The MCU Are Right Back Where They Started

Let's look at what changes from the start of Deadpool & Wolverine to the end. Spoilers, if you care about that sort of thing. Wolverine (a different Wolverine to the one who was in all of the X-Men movies) is now in Deadpool's universe, as is X-23 (the same one who was in Logan). That's it. They meet some MCU characters and establish the existence of 'the Void' which probably won't come back now that Kang is being forgotten about, but they remain in Deadpool's universe, which is explicitly stated to not be the Marvel universe.

Nothing else changes. This universe is 'saved' without ever knowing it was doomed, a potentially interesting (but admittedly too weird for the core MCU) villain appears and then is killed off, and Deadpool fixes some interpersonal problems that arose post-Deadpool 2. It's harsh to say there's no story - a clear beginning, middle, and end occurs - but everything ends pretty much as it started with little mattering, and the plot that took us there was one-dimensional and predictable.

To this, you get people saying 'we don't care, it was cool to see Deadpool fight Wolverine!' which is why you get that first reaction I mentioned of 'haha slop for piggies I am smarter than you', which in turn I think inspires the looking for meaning in the slop that gets us to 'OH MY GOD THE MCU WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!'.

Nothing that happens in this movie matters, and it's odd how Marvel billed it as if it did. Deadpool is a box office hit and Hugh Jackman back as Wolverine prints money, while the two stars have excellent chemistry and are seasoned promoters with natural charm. It didn't need the extra emphasis on the MCU. Aside from a couple of characters from Loki many of the general audience hasn't heard of, this basically wasn't an MCU movie. Only one scene takes place in the 'U' of the MCU, and it’s a flashback linked to Deadpool 2. This is a FoX-Men movie, just like every other movie with either Deadpool or Wolverine in them.

And does that really matter? No! Nothing at all to do with this movie does! You can still enjoy the fight scenes and the ugly dog and the cameos, or find them all dull and reeking of effort in a movie that abandons story for fan service at every turn. Some people will love it or like it, some will hate it or dislike it. A lot of people, probably more than usual for a MCU movie (which it claims to be), will nothing it. This is a tough movie to score when you consider its intention, purpose, and audience. But for impact on the MCU, it's hard to score it higher than a 1.