Can Deadpool & Wolverine make the MCU fun again?

The third Deadpool movie, Deadpool & Wolverine, opens in theatres today.

It's the first film to integrate Deadpool — the wise-cracking Canadian mercenary with superhuman regenerative healing abilities — into both the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe and also the X-Men universe. Plus, it's the first R-rated movie in the MCU.

Today on Commotion, film critics Rachel Ho, Rad Simonpillai and Teri Hart join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman's blockbuster match-up, and whether the film can revive the MCU.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: Rachel, before we get into this movie, we should talk about where the Marvel Cinematic Universe is right now. It's dominated the box office for more than 15 years, but it's been firing more misses than hits lately. What is going on right now with the MCU?

Rachel: I mean, the MCU is in the toilet, let's be completely honest…. I've never been the biggest MCU fan. I like it. It's fine. I'll go watch it and everything, but I kind of got a bit annoyed with them in the last five-some odd years because I just feel like they've been really disrespectful to their fans. They are putting out the most egregious nonsense out there, knowing that their fans are going to show up on opening weekend, and I think that their output has definitely reflected that attitude.

And so I've been very pleased to see that even the most loyal fans have started to be like, "We're done with this. This is just ridiculous." To get those people off of the Marvel bandwagon is impressive, because those guys were ride or die for Marvel for the longest time there. So I think maybe they've realized fans just aren't going to put up with their crap anymore, and they needed a reset.

Elamin: Yeah, I'll give $1 million to anyone who can name three actors in Eternals right now. I saw that movie and I can't even do it. So, Teri, Deadpool is a brand that I think has some juice in it left. What is the significance of folding Deadpool into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Teri: In a lot of ways, this movie is about intellectual property and the fallout of that IP. The Deadpool and X-Men franchises were from Fox. Now we have them back together; their fate was kind of questionable when Disney bought Fox. We didn't exactly know if Disney was going to go for these harder-edged characters and storylines, and certainly the R-rating that Deadpool has always had.

We haven't heard from Deadpool in, like, six years. Logan killed off Wolverine seven years ago. So somehow these two characters feel kind of fresh again. Plus, they're not the Avengers — and God knows we got reminded of that a lot in this movie. And so I do think that the significance is huge because Disney and the MCU are hanging all their hopes and dreams, and their stock price (which is also in the toilet), on this first R-rated movie out of the MCU and, essentially, Ryan Reynolds's vision.

Elamin: First of all, this is barely a movie. Most of what this movie is, is appearances from people you once used to know in different capacities. It's fun. If you get a chance to see Deadpool & Wolverine before you get the cameos and appearances spoiled for you, you should definitely do that.

But also, it is a movie that is trying to reckon with the fact that all of these IP wars have defined cinema for the last 20 years or so. Deadpool is a very effective vehicle to do that because he does break the fourth wall all the time. And so I don't think this is a movie; I think this is a thesis statement on what the MCU has done to cinema. How are you feeling about this movie, Rad?

Rad: I certainly didn't have a great time like you did, sir. There isn't a story being told here. Whatever semblance of a story is being told here is Deadpool recruits Wolverine to save the universe, goes to the void in the multiverse — the trash bin of the multiverse where all the discarded characters go. And so this movie becomes this celebration of trash in a way that is, I think, fitting for Deadpool. I mean, you get trash needle drops — NSYNC's Bye Bye Bye.

Rachel: Hey, woah.

Elamin: Rachel, I think he's a little bit right about the semblance of plot, because there's barely a plot there. What do you think of this movie? 

Rachel: It's nonsense. But personally, I'm not that mad. I kind of feel like we don't need a story right now. Things aren't going well in the world, and maybe we just need to sit in a theatre and watch two very beloved actors and two very beloved characters just have fun and swear and do all the things that they do.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Stuart Berman.