REVIEW: Deadpool & Wolverine a masterclass in fan service, with jaw-dropping cameos you have to see to believe

If you like your superheroes committing murder to the sweet, sweet strains of NSYNC’s Bye Bye Bye while desecrating some of the most precious comic book IP ever created, Deadpool & Wolverine is for you. It takes about 10 minutes for Ryan Reynolds to set the tone in the third instalment of his Deadpool franchise, in an opening sequence that is destined to live long in the minds of fanboys. Yes, that tone is unashamedly puerile and verging on nonsensical to anyone who isn’t intimately familiar with 25 years of superhero movies, with X-Men and Marvel references flying as thick and fast as the Merc with a Mouth’s one-liners. But for those who have been paying attention — and that includes tuning in to two seasons of the Disney Plus series Loki — what you’ll find is a masterclass in fan service. Without giving too much away, Deadpool 3 finds our hero at a crossroads, having turned his back on the world-saving business to focus on selling Kia Carnivals. That all changes when the mysterious Mr Paradox (Succession’s Matthew MacFadyen) of the Time Variance Authority offers Wade Wilson a chance to be a hero that really matters. You see, Wade’s world is destined to be destroyed because it lost its “anchor being” when Wolverine died in the excellent 2017 James Mangold film Logan. All Wade has to do is let his world be sacrificed to protect the Sacred Timeline and he can fulfil his dream of joining Iron Man, Captain America and Thor in the Avengers. Or Deadpool could betray Paradox and jump through the Multiverse until he finds a Wolverine variant worthy of a collab. Unfortunately, the only Logan willing to enlist comes with significant emotional baggage, having been responsible for the destruction of his own world. With more pathos than you could cut with Adamantium claws, this version of Wolverine is truly worthy of Hugh Jackman’s decision to resurrect the beloved character. The blood-soaked repartee between Reynolds and Jackman throughout the film blurs the line between fiction and their real-life bromance and is worth the price of admission alone. And don’t get this critic started on the cameos, which range from eliciting impressed nods to sheer, open-mouthed wonder. Taking a more-is-more approach compared to the previous two movies — hey, there has to be some benefit to making this one under the auspices of Disney after the Mouse House acquired 20th Century Fox — Reynolds, who also serves as producer, is firmly focused on making it a joyful viewing experience. However, it comes at the expense of hitting the genuine emotional notes he did in the previous films. And the villain of the piece, Charles Xavier’s twin sister Cassandra Nova (played by The Crown star Emma Corrin), remains tantalisingly unrealised. While these are technically knocks on Deadpool 3, director Shawn Levy’s film succeeds in most other ways by staying true to the franchise’s irreverent nature (there’s even a joke about Jackman’s divorce from Deborra-Lee Furness). But there is truth to every joke, as they say, and in this instance it’s Deadpool announcing himself as “Marvel Jesus”. After a number of high-profile MCU outings that have failed to light up the box office, Reynolds and Jackman’s collaboration in Deadpool & Wolverine will bring the superhero movie back from the dead. For the time being, at least. RATING Four stars out of five