Massive Spoilers Ahead for Deadpool & WolverineDeadpool & Wolverineis the thirdDeadpoolmovie, the 34th feature film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the fourth entry in Fox’s Wolverine movies, and, arguably, a point in several other franchises. It’s not exactly a standalone project. Like a lot of Marvel team-ups, the context of both characters carries most of the plot. This suggests that anyone who’d like to seeDeadpool & Wolverinewould need to watch dozens of hours of earlier material. Amazingly, the movie most centered around cameos and callbacks might be one of the best examples of MCU films avoiding homework.
Is Deadpool actually going tosave the Marvel Cinematic Universe? For all his chatter about “Marvel Jesus,” he’s not likely to pull the franchise out of its current slump. Part of the problem with that strategy is that Marvel isn’t actually in dire straits at the moment. For every box-office disappointment, they’ve pumped out one or two big winners. They’ve adopted a one-for-us, one-for-nobody strategy. With the grim reality of blockbuster media where it is, the problem is that they need every movie to beEndgame. No version of Deadpool could have done that for them.
Deadpool & WolverineWorks Without Prior MCU Films
Yes,Deadpool & Wolverine’s plot rests heavily on details from previous Marvel projects. No, viewers will not need to go back and watch all of those building blocks to understand what’s happening. How could this be?Deadpool & Wolverineis a coherent film that explains the rules of its universe and walks its audience through the story. Around 80% of the plot takes place inside the Void, a nightmarish purgatory at the end of linear time. The Time Variance Authority, or TVA, sends Deadpool, Wolverine, and most of the other characters there as part of the “pruning” process that eliminates incorrect branches of reality. A massive eldritch horror called Alioth, who can erase beings from existence, torments and oversees the Void. All of those concepts are integral to the plot of the film. They all come fromLoki. Anyone who sawDeadpool & Wolverinewould know that, because Wade says it as straightforwardly as one could imagine. He loudly announces, “It’s Alioth,fromLoki, season one, episode five!” Characters in the film take time to explain the Void, the TVA, Alioth, and where all of those concepts come from. It’s all in the script, as it often is.
Deadpool & WolverineHas Countless Callbacks
No one needs to watch previous Marvel movies to understand the plot ofDeadpool & Wolverine. They need the exact amount of material they’d need in any other film franchise. Don’t watchDeadpool 3withoutwatching the first two. That much should be obvious.Loganis the only other project that anyone really needs to see to get the emotional impact of the character’s demise and Laura’s role in it. However, the film packs in enough callbacks, cameos, and in-jokes that anyone who checks in without any research will be left confused. Anyone can get the plot of this movie, but that doesn’t mean every referential line would make sense. Here’s a list of most of the films one would need to watch to get every jokereference inDeadpool & Wolverine:
Anyone with a cultural understanding of most superhero movies, especially those that came out 20 years ago, will be fine withDeadpool & Wolverine. The gags are referential, but the plot works on its own. This isn’t anything new.
Deadpool & WolverineDemonstrates The Truth of the Cinematic Universe Gimmick
For all the grousing about Marvel movies forcing viewers to sit through material they aren’t interested in, most Marvel movies do the work for the audience. In the firstfive minutes ofThe Marvels, perhaps the worst-received film in the bunch, the script walks the audience through who everyone is and what they’re doing. Viewers don’t actually need to do much research before watching whichever MCU project they want to see. Aside from seeingThor 2beforeThor 3and so on, the overwhelming majority of narratives unpack the details of the preceding material before launching into their own story. A viewer will miss things if they skip the other MCU vehicles, but there will be all the inside jokes, nods, and emotional impact. The issue is not one of understanding. Instead, missing the previous films leaves the viewer aware of what’s going on but unable to participate inthe little Easter eggs. It’s an option that enhances the experience for hardcore fans without ruining everything for newcomers or casual viewers.
Deadpool & Wolverineisn’t a masterpiece, but it accomplishes the bare minimum requirements of a coherent film. No one would recommend it asanyone’s first Marvel movie, but someone could watch it under those circumstances and understand the plot. They’d spend a lot of time listening to their fellow audience members laugh while they remain silent, but they’d walk away with a complete understanding of the story. This is how the Marvel Cinematic Universe works, and it took the most referential movie of all time to demonstrate that.
