In theaters from July 24, the feature film directed by Shawn Lewy regenerates the MCU universe. A metacinematic gem that happily spins action with the buddy movie genre. Featuring politically incorrect humor and tributes to comic book movies of the past, a work that breaks the fourth wall set to a delightfully vintage soundtrack.
A laugh will bury us. Or it will make us rise again. After all, the talkative mercenary regenerates at will, and in this movie, those who die often come back for more. Thus, Deadpool & Wolverine, hitting Italian theaters starting Wednesday, July 24, proves to be a cure-all against the fatigue of modern comic book movies, as refreshing as a spritz with Cynar. We laugh and joke about everything; computer graphics are not overwhelming, and above all, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, even if it involves the end of this world or others. The Multiverse transforms into a crossword puzzle section; it is not mandatory to grasp all the whirl of references, tributes, cameos, and rich prizes (of course, skillfully navigating Marvel’s mazes multiplies the pleasure) because in the end, we enjoy and have fun regardless, between daring double entendres and a bone-crunching battle set to the tunes of Bye Bye Bye by NSYNC. Because in contemporary entertainment cinema, a mainstream film full of self-irony and irreverence is as rare as a Gronchi Rosa stamp.
Making Pineapple Pizza Appealing
To use a mere gastronomic metaphor, Deadpool & Wolverine manages to make pineapple pizza digestible and even appetizing—a dish that terrifies most in Italy, and rightly so—because it is a work capable of combining the pain, nihilism, and loneliness of a dark film like Logan with joyful confusion and the shameless audacity of previous films focused on the chatty superhero. For once, at least in the cinema, opposites truly attract. If the clash transforms into a meeting, much of the credit goes to Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. Without running the risk of being excommunicated by the critics, and with the necessary proportions, the two handsome gents seem to be the mischievous, superhuman evolution of The Odd Couple imagined by Neil Simon. An inevitable flâneur, but also a megalomaniac, Wade Wilson jokes around and dreams of teaming up with the Avengers, but the Avengers are a dish that can’t even be served cold for someone with questionable morals and a face modeled after Freddy Krueger. Thus, Deadpool’s existence inevitably takes the path of sunset. With a mouse-gray wig, he finds himself like a white-collared worker selling cars. However, even in the most ragtag version of the American Dream, a second chance always manifests. In this case, the opportunity is represented by James “Logan” Howlett, known as Wolverine. There’s just one tiny problem: the hairy mutant with sly sideburns is dead. But in a respectable comic book movie, never say never. Thus, the lone wolf from gene X will find himself, against his will, playing the onerous role of temporal anchor.
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Deadpool & Wolverine in theaters, everything you need to know
Fresh and Pleasurable like a Chilled Chardonnay
Getting excited about the TV series Gossip Girl, mocking Fox, flaunting your bisexuality, ridiculing cancel culture, avoiding woke dogmas: Deadpool & Wolverine wanders through the now dilapidated mansion of comic book movies in search of the treasure room. And finally, it finds it. The film frolics in re-presenting cinematic icons from the past such as Blade, Elektra, Human Torch, and X23, but doesn’t fall into the trap of forced nostalgia. Indeed, the multiverse, now more annoying than mosquitoes, in the film is nothing more than an effective MacGuffin to mock. After all, that time was an illusion was known to Einstein, but the pleasant reality is that the two hours and seven minutes of the movie fly by pleasantly, just like sipping a chilled Chardonnay in great company on a summer afternoon.
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Deadpool & Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman on “Like a Prayer”
Jokes, Quips, and Guilt
If Deadpool 2 opened with an action figure depicting Logan’s death, in this third chapter Wolverine’s departure is evident in all its cadaverous glory. But in the 34th film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even the passing transforms into a joke. The film is overwhelmed by the transgressive comic energy of the chatty fool in the red costume (“so the bad guys don’t see the blood stains”), an endless whirl of gags, puns, and often trivial but never vulgar jokes. Conversely, in this version, the mutant with adamantium claws has a knack for whisky because guilt is soluble in alcohol. An X-Man who feels like a wrong man and doesn’t want to know about showcasing the traditional loud yellow uniform. And it’s a pleasure that’s far from guilty to enjoy the pilgrimage of this charming pair of misfits in the “Void”—a place featured in the series Loki that lies at the end of time where all variants and timelines erased from existence converge. A desolate land overshadowed by the menacing and monstrous entity named Alioth, ready to swallow anyone within reach like a titanic vacuum cleaner.
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Deadpool & Wolverine, the final trailer of the Marvel comic book
Emma Corrin and Matthew Macfadyen from TV to Comic Books
A desert pulled from the imagery of the Mad Max saga (there’s even a joke about Furiosa). Ruling over it is Cassandra Nova, Professor X’s twin, clad in a stylish steampunk trench coat with matching boots: a villain capable of manipulating your brain, literally getting into your head worse than a summer hit. Emma Corrin plays her, sporting a Nosferatu-style cap. After winning a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Lady Diana Spencer in The Crown, the English actress proves equally comfortable in the role of the usual supervillain who craves to reduce the universe to ashes. And speaking of British stars from the small screen, Matthew Macfadyen (multi-award-winning for his role as Tom Wambsgans in the masterpiece series Succession) also does superbly. The former Mr. Darcy from the 2004 film Pride and Prejudice is just right in the role of the arrogant, unpleasant, and buffoonish bureaucrat of the Time Variance Authority (TVA).
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Deadpool & Wolverine, the songs we’ll hear in the Marvel film revealed
Singing Like a Prayer at the End of the Film
Between jabs at Reynolds’ career (referencing Van Wilder and Definitely, Maybe) and a tribute to The Wizard of Oz, the adoptive father of all multiverses, Deadpool truly sees himself as Marvel’s Jesus, as he loves to self-identify: a mutant who, instead of multiplying loaves and fishes, spreads bizarre versions of himself, including a Dogpool that is as ugly as it is irresistible. The Merc with a Mouth seems able to resurrect Marvel’s comic book movies, and ultimately, in these sad, dark, and uncertain times, Deadpool & Wolverine is indeed the film we need, with its subversive load of humor and carefree spirit laced with a pinch of emotion. So much so that, after the traditional post-credit scene, you feel like singing Like a Prayer by Madonna and moving to the rhythm of Dubstep (as suggested in Deadpool 2; I had to Google it to find out what it was all about). In a way, twisting Brecht’s phrase: lucky is the film populated by superheroes of this kind.