Deadpool and Wolverine

Since 2016, the Deadpool franchise has been the distempered mongrel of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite on- and off-screen remarks to the contrary, the series doesn't give a damn whether it's part of the family or not. Deadpool is having a ball doing its own thing and making a mint with every outing.

 

The third installment of Ryan Reynold's vanity vehicle -- Deadpool and Wolverine -- is directed by Shawn Levy and puts the two title characters, played by Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, a host of other heroes and villains into a Cuisinart along with the series' famous fourth-wall asides and real-world industry digs to create a blisteringly funny, bloody and profane tale that mixes Marvel mythology and Reynold's infamous rapid-fire snark and vulgarity.

 

In this story by a half dozen writers including Reynolds, the indestructible mutant mercenary Deadpool is recruited by a mid-level keeper of dimensional timelines named Mr. Paradox (Matthew MacFadyen), who tells him the order of the multiverse has been disrupted and dimensions are fated for annihilation because the X-man Wolverine died in one universe (see 2017's Logan). The reasons for this are much too convoluted (or nonsensical) to recount here, and they don't matter anyway.

 

Deadpool gets the notion to find a living Wolverine in one dimension and transport him to the one in danger of destruction because he has a "need to do good." Along the way, the two encounter several lesser lights in the Marvel constellation (cameos by Jennifer Garner, Wesley Snipes, Channing Tatum) and mount an attack on the bald super being Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), who rules a vast wasteland called the Void (the sexual and scatological references run deep and wide).

 

I would wager fans of this series (or any of the other 30 or so MCU features) don't show up for the science but for the eye-popping action sequences. I think Deadpool's near total absence of sentimentality is a bonus for those who may be weary of Captain America's earnestness and Spider-Man's juvenile diffidence.

 

Deadpool and Wolverine batter and brutalize and leave the audiences crying for more.