by David Slifer

During the summer break, we had quite a lot of new films and movies coming out. One of the biggest films to come out over the summer was “Deadpool & Wolverine,” directed by Shawn Levy and stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. This was a big deal for a lot of reasons. To start out, Hugh Jackman returned as Wolverine even after he officially retired from the role in 2017 after one of the final X-Men films, “Logan,” so it was a great surprise to see him come back. The second reason is because it was the only Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film to come out in 2024. There are Marvel films that are coming out this year, but they are not connected to the entire MCU. Lastly, this is a big deal because it marks the end of the Fox era of Marvel, meaning the end for stuff like the “X-Men” and the “Fantastic Four.” Many people from the early 2000s grew up on these films, and “Deadpool & Wolverine” is like a love letter to that era of films and their fans. 

The film opens with our main lead Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds, and in clear Deadpool fashion, he starts the film by addressing the Disney-Fox merger and the rights issue that took a while to finalize. This is a great start to the film as it shows that we are getting a film that continues to stay true to the “Merc with a Mouth,” and that the R rating is not a joke.  

Something that not many people may not expect from this film is how well it handled the more serious moments of the film. They do a great job at keeping the comedy alive, but not many people expected the impact they would have when leaving the theater. The stakes that the movie has are big, and knowing what we do about the characters, it is hard to see if they can accomplish what they can.

A theme that is tackled in this movie is what it means to be a hero. With the return of Jackman as Wolverine, he is not the same version of the character from previous films due to the events of “Logan.” He is haunted by his past and by the actions he committed and did not. This version of the character was very well portrayed by Jackman, and you can tell that he had a blast coming back to the character.  

With so many films these days being remakes and sequels, at some point, you just have to accept this new trend and just hope that whatever is made has a good story. This film is exactly that. It is written beautifully, well-performed and it was a nice way to close the chapter of the films that walked so that the MCU could fly.

When asked what she thought about the movie, GC student Caitlin Queen stated, “I loved the comedy and the jokes and the story it told. The actors did a great job playing their characters and you could tell a lot of effort was put into the film not just by actors but the whole production crew.” I highly recommend you watch this. If you do plan to watch it, do watch “Deadpool,” “Logan” and “Deadpool 2” in that order before going to see it. It will give the context needed and will help you understand the basis of the film.