DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE Review: Self-Awareness Doesn't Make the Multiverse Less Exhausting

Any piece of meta, satirical, or parody fiction is in danger of falling into the trap that self-consciously doing the thing is still doing the thing.

Deadpool & Wolverine, which it seems fair to categorize as all of those types of fiction, doesn't just fall into this trap, it launches itself into it. The movie is full of jokes about long runtimes (including a promise near the end that things will wrap up soon), overreliance on cameos and interconnected narratives, and the real world Disney acquisition of Fox.

A few of these jokes land, such as an early "don't worry about it, audiences are used to long runtimes" quip from Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) while Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) chugs a bottle. Overwhelmingly, however, they just point out the problems of our current superhero movies. There's even a joke about the MCU being at a low point, as if acknowledging this makes it any less true about this film that's doing the same things the other poorly-received films are doing.

Like most of the other recent entries into the MCU, Deadpool & Wolverine dives headfirst into the multiverse, bouncing back and forth between the "Sacred Timeline" of the MCU and Fox's X-Men timeline in the first ten minutes. When Deadpool is brought into the Time Variance Authority ("TVA") and given an explanation of "anchor beings" and "time rippers" as they relate to various universes ceasing to exist, it's almost difficult not to tune out. Luckily, Matthew Macfadyen as TVA agent Mr. Paradox has so much fun as a cackling villain that his exposition monologues are thoroughly entertaining and surprisingly clear, if not necessarily compelling.

That clarity about the multiverse, including a specific call out to an episode of Loki named by season and episode number, leaves the film (mostly) free of plot holes while forcing the narrative (credited to five writers including Reynolds and director Shawn Levy) to become a stakes-less and momentum-less sprawl, centered more on cameos than anything else.

Much of the movie takes place in a plane of existence called "The Void," where forgotten properties/characters are dumped by the TVA, creating an incredible opportunity for appearances from fan-favorite and less than fan-favorite heroes from previous Marvel films. It's frankly shocking how many times the back of the head "who's going to be revealed?" shot is deployed through this section of the movie. But nothing that happens in The Void feels like it matters; it's a world that's been written off and has no bearing on either of our heroes' worlds or the "Sacred Timeline" of the MCU.

The Void does introduce Emma Corrin as villain Cassandra Nova, who, like Macfadyen's Paradox, is a performance highlight. Corrin's slinky movements and dry humor combine with a genuinely disturbing power to push her hand into and through characters' faces and minds to make Cassandra the most fun-to-watch character in the film, which speaks to the over-saturation of the title characters.

Deadpool and Ryan Reynolds have become so tied that nearly every Reynolds performance over the last eight years feels like a variation on the same theme and, as any X-Men comic fan will tell you, Wolverine has been extremely overvalued by the films. It's an overvaluation that Deadpool & Wolverine doubles down on, somewhat fairly given that it exists in the same universe as the other films, though no less frustratingly to those who know that Storm is much more powerful.

But the title characters are the title characters because viewers will flock to see them, and they're enjoyable enough to spend some time with. Reynolds and Jackman have a natural straight-man and fool chemistry. And despite an early brawl between the two that relies too heavily on CGI and panning wide shots to feel exciting, a later one-on-one fight mostly confined to a minivan is one of the best action sequences the MCU has offered in years.

Other moments shine through as well. The joyously gory opening credits set to NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye," and needle drops of everything from Grease songs to T.I.'s "Bring Em Out" and Madonna's "Like a Prayer'' show Levy's talent for playlist curation. A few jokes, including a perfectly deployed Daredevil reference, manage to rise above the din of self-deprecation to be laugh-out-loud funny.

Deadpool & Wolverine is far from the worst the MCU has placed in front of fans since Endgame. Far from acknowledging failure and changing direction, though, the movie knowingly digs deeper into the hole it repeatedly says isn't working. More than anything else, Deadpool & Wolverine is tiring, registering as a corporation's refusal to accept that doing the same thing will yield the same results.

The film opens Friday, July 26, throughout the known human universe, only in movie theaters, via Marvel Studios.