Deadpool & Wolverine just keeps on breaking records and the latest one comes home. The Marvel Studios blockbuster has become the highest-selling first week R-rated film on digital. (Keep in mind these numbers are for the domestic market) Move over John Wick: Chapter 4, there’s a new king of the castle. While it’s nice to rack up these accolades, they also point to another truth about Deadpool & Wolverine. Namely, it wasn’t just the thrill of those Marvel cameos in a packed theater that drew people to this movie. There’s some solid magic in there without taking into account the surprises.
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For starters, Deadpool & Wolverine is the follow-up to a wildly-popular release in its own right with Deadpool 2. Fans of the Fox Marvel franchise has been waiting a while to see Ryan Reynolds strap on those katanas again. In addition, they got the absolutely shocking bonus of Hugh Jackman teaming with his best friend after all these years. Previously, Reynolds had teased some crossover with the mainline Fox X-Men movies. But, at that point it was an educated wish at best. All those developments were a surefire way to get people out to the theater and stream at home when the opportunity came knocking.
Even taking into account the Wolverine of it all, the story that Deadpool’s latest feature is something that struck a chord with a ton of audiences out there. Wade Wilson is feeling a bit lost in the sauce after Deadpool 2. He’s doubting himself on a massive scale. But, through his own friendship with the “Worst Wolverine” he finds a purpose. That’s easy to root for. It’s even easier to get behind Jackman’s performance as a Logan variant in this one. No, it’s not the emotional gut punch of James Mangold’s farewell to the beloved character, but it doesn’t need to be. This Wolverine is getting his groove back, so to speak, and we’re all very thankful to see him get back on the horse. For other Marvel fans, it’s just a nice time on the couch. Yes, the multiverse factors heavily and the movie takes potshots (some unearned) at recent MCU output, but the story itself really sings when you get behind these two goofy men as they try to save the world and each other.
Deadpool & Wolverine’s Cameos Don’t Exactly Hurt Either
After saying all that, there are some people who just want to see Blade, Gambit and Elektra mess some bad guys up. Not to mention, all those Logan fans that cried tears of joy to see X-23 rejoin the fray and start ending fools with those sunglasses on. We can’t really go this far without talking about some of the cameo appearances in Deadpool & Wolverine can we? Yeah, Wesley Snipes, Channing Tatum, Jennifer Garner, and Dafne Keen all step up to bring the house down in the MCU blockbuster. The Anarchy Avengers are going to be a hot group costume in a few weeks when Halloween begins in earnest.
Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy spoke to The Official Marvel Podcast about assembling this team of Marvel Universe castoffs. In some cases, the fans didn’t know they wanted more with these characters until they got it served up on the big screen. Now, we’ve got open calls for a Blade 4 and people begging for Channing Tatum to be Gambit again. 2024 is a strange moment. But, for the filmmaker, this is the best possible outcome because all he wanted was to give these performers the spotlight again in a fun way.
“The vibe on set was a party. We wanted to play with this theme of ‘legacy.’ So, we started thinking of characters we knew who never quite got their ending,” Levy began. “When we had all these characters together and you have X-23, and you have Blade, and you have Gambit and Electra. Everyone was so happy and grateful.”
“When you have people like Channing Tatum who had wanted to play Gambit for 10 years or more. And, this is that moment,” he would add. “Everyone was so grateful and happy to be there. So we got the work done and we had a lot of fun. but there was just a feeling of ‘wow, what a privilege to do this job.’ That’s something I’ll never forget.”
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