What. A. Movie. Ryan Reynolds once again proves why Deadpool is the character for Marvel and the MCU. With the third installment of the franchise here, let’s waste no time and get right into what was one of the best movies Marvel has ever put out there.

Crafting the Storyline and Keeping it Deadpool

The strongest part of the entire movie was actually the plot itself and the fact it stayed perfectly true to a Deadpool movie, even with the stakes higher than they’ve ever been. The movie never strayed far from the main problem put forth from the beginning: Deadpool’s universe was going to die. So while we go in and out of the TVA, into the Void, and then back to his timeline once again, all things led to the final mission of saving his universe from first the timeline destroyer and then Cassandra. Even with various new Multiversal topics being thrown our way, the plot and the main problem remained clear inside of the movie itself.

Of course, this was still a Deadpool movie, so while it did include various emotional moments both for Deadpool and Wolverine, there were still plenty of comedic plot moments. From starting with an N*SYNC dance break during the opening TVA massacre, to a sequence of scenes with Deadpool meeting Wolverine variants and bringing it all together to continue to poke fun at himself, Logan and the FOX films throughout the whole movie, it stayed very much on brand for what we know of Deadpool movies. It even had quite a few returning cast members, even if they did only make a small appearance at the beginning and end. Ryan made one thing clear with this movie: Deadpool might be joining the MCU but nothing about him is changing.

Cameos Everywhere

Probably the best part of the movie was the ongoing search for who would show up next from past or never-completed projects. While expectations about who might appear were high, the movie never once disappointed in who did actually appear. From the very first one being Mr. Happy Hogan himself from 616, you knew that you were going to be in for a treat. The cameos were also interesting because there were two different types: the first being those who were confirmed in trailers, the other being reprised roles in general or random actor cameos, so let’s list them.

List one is many of the characters we saw in trailers, pre-confirmed in the movie before anyone even sat down in the theater. That includes characters like Pyro, Sabretooth, Toad, and Lady Deathstrike, all being played by their original actors and actresses. Then there were also other characters such as Juggernaut, Azazel, and Psylocke who also made appearances, although some not played by the original. Lastly, a late addition to the list was X-23 played by Dafne Keene and B-15 from the Loki series.

The fun group of characters were the ones no one fully expected or knew about. Starting with my personal favorite two, you had Henry Cavill as a Wolverine variant (looking amazing, I might add) and Channing Tatum finally getting to play the role of Gambit. Sharing the scene with Gambit were Jennifer Garner’s Elektra and Wesley Snipes’ Blade. Happy was already mentioned, but another crazy cameo and the first in the Void was Chris Evans making his MCU comeback not as Captain America, but instead as Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch. Additionally, two actual Avengers made the cameo list, the first being Ant-Man’s corpse and the second being Mark Ruffulo’s Hulk. And lastly, one remaining big cameo that was there but never unmasked was Blake Lively stepping into the role of Lady Deadpool or Ladypool, of course, the perfect casting to play the female version of her husband’s alter ego.

Cassandra Nova, the Villain you are

The menacing villain of Deadpool and Wolverine is none other than Cassandra Nova, Xavier’s incredibly powerful sister. Possessing abilities similar to her brother, she stands out due to being cast into the Void before experiencing much of life. It remains unclear which universe’s Xavier she could be related to, but what is certain is that her existence was a secret to her brother. Her threat was so significant that the TVA removed her from her timeline. However, Deadpool and Wolverine’s actions disrupted the system she had established in the Void, leading to her escape.

What makes her time in the Void particularly interesting is that she seemed entirely content there, as she owned a sling ring that would have allowed her out. Using it to free Deadpool and Wolverine, she then also used it to follow them into Deadpool’s universe after learning Paradox had attempted to have her killed. Their relationship seemed based on keeping each other mutually happy on both sides ‘of the fence’ as Cassandra says and when Paradox broke his part of that deal, she felt she no longer needed to play nice.

The shift from Paradox trying to speed up a dying timeline to Cassandra wanting to take out every timeline, starting with Deadpool’s, in the Multiverse was a little bumpy as a whole. As formidable of a foe she was in the Void and in general, it felt that her abilities and who she was could have allowed her to aim for a different target, rather than also trying to destroy Deadpool’s universe. As it was Deadpool’s movie, keeping the main threat of his universe going extinct on the table made sense, but for Cassandra’s villain arc, it came across as probably the weakest part of the plot. Either way, her attempt to destroy the universe and absorb the power ended up killing her, thanks to Deadpool and Wolverine. It’s unclear if we will ever see another version of her pop up, although it would be cool to explore the character in more than one film.

Bringing Back Wolverine

Before the movie came out, Ryan had made clear that the legacy of Logan the movie would be untouched in Deadpool and Wolverine. That being said, many still were unsure how exactly they were going to bring Hugh Jackman back for the part when Logan had been such a solid and emotional send off for him. About 5 minutes into the movie proved quickly that Logan quite literally was not going untouched, as his skeleton was used rather impressively as a weapon for Deadpool. Then it was shown how easy in today’s current MCU it is to just sort of generate another one without technically bringing anyone back from the dead at all.

The new version of Wolverine was a new direction for Hugh and it worked perfectly for the movie. A depressed, down-on-his-luck Wolverine is taken by Deadpool on an adventure he never asked for under the guise that they could maybe undo his mistakes made in his universe. In the end, he found a new purpose and a new home universe, even if how that works is a little unclear regarding the rules of Multiverse travel. Regardless, it was the perfect way to bring the character back while telling a new story, opening the door for Hugh Grant to play Wolverine for as long as he just about wants to and is asked to. Will he? That seems pretty unclear, although the likelihood remains that Marvel will probably want to have their own X-Men cast, meaning that even if we never see Hugh as Wolverine after this, we can walk away knowing we saw him finally wear the iconic suit and received the happy ending he deserved.

Image: “Deadpool and Wolverine”, Joseph Jenkinson, Screenrant