10 Reasons Why I Hated Deadpool and Wolverine
Image courtesy Random Facts/FB
I hated Deadpool and Wolverine. I didn’t think it was very funny. It was groan-inducing. It 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. Online defenders of this film say “Just turn your brain off and laugh!”
Well, did you “Turn your brain off and laugh!” during Quantumania, Thor: Love and Thunder, or The Marvels? The staunchest critics of those films said they were POORLY WRITTEN and had horrible characterizations and way too many jokes.
Now, you can’t have it both ways.
You can’t try to give Deadpool and Wolverine an Oscar for being badly written, which most of its defenders will gladly admit, praise it for its comedy, and handwave away its flaws. Yet, they won’t do that for the films I just mentioned.
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 a billion dollars, the biggest R-rated superhero film ever. (The scarcity of MCU films for once might have helped with that too.) 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. Disney, which has been struggling since Endgame will learn all the wrong lessons from this success; jingle keys in front of the fans, showcase canary yellow comics accurate uniforms, 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 the last 5 yeas. Now an MCU with horrible writing and character development is the best thing ever. Yes, Deadpool is all about jokes but name one MCU film that isn’t.
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 has 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, 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 Roger’s character arc from 2011’s Captain America through to 2019’s Endgame. Think about 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, but it can’t be denied these characters had arcs. Deadpool is the same character we met from 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 like an adult couple. Deadpool is barely a character in this film.
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. Deadpool is back to trying to rekindle a romance with Vanessa again and maybe getting another dead end job. He’s basically the same character from the end of the first Deadpool. Worse, he’s kind of like the Austin Powers of comic book films with his signature 4th-wall breaks which is now his only noticable personality trait.
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, 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 doing his karaoke NSync dancing and desecrating the grave of the 2017 Logan was groan inducing. it also was a stark reminder of a much better film.
This film is a gimmick, not a film. Also, no one is going to take Jackman or RDJ seriously again why they try to retire from these roles.
4. Wolverine is Nothing But a Canary Yellow Costume
There is a legendary line in 1999’s X-Men where Wolverine mocks the black costumes they wore and Cyclops asks him if he would prefer yellow spandex. Comic book films are not comic books – everything can’t be comic book accurate in a film. And online fans want to cherry pick what is and isn’t comic book accurate in a film as it suits them. (Logan can’t be 5’3”, which is his exact height in the comic books, for example.)
Wolverine in a canary yellow costume serves no practical purpose. Deadpool wears a red costume because it was always getting stained with blood. And the Wolverine mask with the white eyes is just ridiculous. Don’t mind me, because Wolverine is going to be canary yellow for the next decade. If you love it, I love it for you, just keep this same energy a decade from now, because that costume and mask is probably here to stay.
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 got to let go. He did the right thing in 2017, but that sendoff is now undone. And there is one joke in this film I laughed out loud at: When Deadpool said Disney will make Jackman play Logan until he is 90.
Fans are not going to let of Jackman easily. The multiverse is confounding enough. In the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World, adamantium will be introduced. So – will there be a new Wolverine and X-Men cast or will we have to wait until after the Avengers films at the end of this decade?
Do we really want the same actors portraying the same roles, or variants, for 20 or 30+ years?
6. Too Many Characters Who Were Wasted or Underutilized
For a film called Deadpool and Wolverine, there were an Endgame-level amount of characters in this film. Everyone could 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?
The TVA, Cassandra Nova’s crew, Deadpool’s family and friends, the denizens of the Void, and the multiple universes Deadpool hopped through showcase too many characters that don’t move the plot along. (Why was Henry Cavill in this film?) The story and plot were sacrificed to connect cameos and jokes.
7. 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?
8. Casandra Nova’s Motivations Made No Sense
Casandra Nova first appeared 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 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 people to the Void like he did Deadpool and Wolverine?
Nova acted like a psychopath when first introduced and then got a heart when Deadpool and Wolverine try to spare her in a fight? Also, why would she want to destroy other timelines so she can live in the Void, which seems to be inhabited by 30 people tops? How did the time Ripper destroy her again? (Anti-matter and matter McGuffins were played out in 1970s and 1980s sc-fi.)
Paradox and Nova didn’t have any plans, they just did things to connect the various jokes and cameos in this threadbare plot.
9. 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. Otherwise, Deapool would crack a joke and 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.
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.
Also,it’s weird Deadpool chose the drunkest and 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.) Logan hated his guts, Deadpool lied to him about rescuing Logan’s timeline, and Logan happily becomes friends with Deadpool at the end when only Deadpool’s timeline is saved?
That makes no sense, espcially with how hostile and depressed Logan was in 98% of this film.
Also, Deadpool and Wolverine stabbing and slicing each other with no effect got old quick. They both have healing factors.
10. Disney Will Make More Films Like Deadpool and Wolverine
This is a low-effort film with barely any plot. It is just jokes and cameos stitched together cosplaying as a superhero film. 95% of fans went to see that gaudy canary-yellow uniform. Nostalgia and wanting the Golden Age MCU to return made this film a success more than anything.And we all helped it make $1 billion.
I think MCU films will become the gaudy, campy, and silly comic book films of the 20th century before the advent of the MCU in 2008. The MCU revitalized and transformed the comic book film genre in 2008 but now will become the very thing it obsoleted. The MCU will become a parody of itself; and we will go for the jokes, comic accurate costumes, turn our brains off and enjoy it fun, and clap for these awkwardly silent scene beats where the theater audience is supposed to clap when the famous cameo appears.
Deadpool and Wolverine (NOPE – Spider-Man/Deadpool)
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 others morals while teaming up to fight threats and out-banter each other. I guarantee you will enjoy this series if you enjoyed this film. Get the Spider-Man/Deadpool Omnibus paperback for $38 at Amazon now.
Listen, if you love this film, go see it again and take some friends so it will make $2 billion. Just don’t feel entitled to shut down people with differing opinions. Enjoy it all you want – I just don’t get it.
This film is low-effort, designed to get fanboy reactions has no compelling story, and is a massively wasted opportunity to advance the cinematic characterization of Deadpool. But hey, maybe the world needs more pegging jokes than we knew.
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Allen Francis is a full-time writer, prolific comic book investor and author of The Casual’s Guide: Why You Should Get Into Comic Book Investing. Allen holds a BA degree from Marymount Manhattan College. Before becoming a writer Allen was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including saving and investing in your own small business.
