Deadpool & Wolverine Spoiler Review: My Verdict on the Cameos, Cassandra Nova and That Ending

My overall verdict on Deadpool and Wolverine is that it works, and it works specifically because it ends up being a heartfelt and effective celebration of Wolverine, who I am a big fan of, and of Deadpool, who I think felt more like himself in this film than in either of his previous solo outings. I said in my non spoiler review that the reaction out of the gate had not been enthusiastic across the board, and that critics might find the film too inside baseball, but after actually seeing it I was able to pivot on some of my worries.

I also want to note going in that no original Fox X-Men from the earlier films showed up in this movie. I had talked to my source about this, and while I could not share those conversations before release because I did not want to spoil the film, it seems that the OG X-Men were included in earlier versions of the script, which is why I had reported that possibility previously. Those earlier versions apparently included the TVA and even Kang as well, which obviously became a complicating issue for the MCU. My source had told me weeks ago that there were no OG X-Men in the final film, and I already knew there were not a lot of cameos overall, which is why I tweeted a poll on July 8th trying to give a discreet heads up without spoiling anything.

My cameo poll showed fans did not mind a smaller Deadpool and Wolverine cast list

To my surprise, the vast majority of people who answered my poll said they did not actually care about the number of cameos, which I took as good news for the film going in. Having now seen it, I think that reaction holds up, because this is primarily a Deadpool and Wolverine film first, and I think several of the cameos that did make the cut are excellent and extended enough to carry real weight. Gambit in particular was a highlight for me.

Watching it made me wonder whether Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds's Deadpool might end up being the only Fox Marvel characters to make the jump into the MCU, since that is literally what happens in the story. After seeing the film, I said I would be okay with that outcome. If other Fox characters were ever going to show up, this was the place to do it, and it did not happen, so I think it is fine to move on and let Jackman's Wolverine exist alongside other versions of the character.

Wesley Snipes fires a pointed line at the Mahershala Ali Blade situation

Blade was a New Line, meaning Warner Brothers, release, and I was both surprised and not surprised that Wesley Snipes planted his flag so aggressively in the character. During a joke about actors who have played the Punisher, Snipes's Blade declares there is only ever going to be one Blade, which struck me as a wild line given the very unusual delays affecting the Mahershala Ali version of the character at Marvel Studios.

I thought it was a funny line, but I said I would not be laughing if I were Mahershala Ali, particularly because that film is not moving forward, and I was surprised Kevin Feige allowed a line that creates more problems for his own slate.

An infamous story about a man skipping through a Marvel film at the airport frames how I judge the action

I used the framework of the film's action sequences to structure my thoughts, because that is, in my words, the gravy. I referenced a famous or infamous story about someone spotting a man at an airport fast forwarding through a Marvel film, only stopping for the action beats. I think it was smart for Deadpool and Wolverine to load up on strong action sequences throughout, because I could see myself watching clips the same way once they hit social media after release. By my count there were six action sequences in the film, and I went through them in order.

The opening credits fight sets up why Logan's death has to stay canon

Like the previous two Deadpool films, the opening credits sequence doubles as an action scene, this time built around Deadpool digging up Logan's adamantium skeleton to fight TVA officers to the tune of NSYNC's Bye Bye Bye, a song that came out in 2000, the same year the first X-Men movie was released. What sold the scene for me, beyond the camera work, was Deadpool actually performing the NSYNC dance moves well rather than badly, which is what made it funny.

The sequence matters to the story because it establishes that Logan's sacrifice in Logan is canon. I said it would have upset a lot of fans if that death had been undone. It also sets up the entire plot: the Fox Wolverine was the anchor being for the Fox universe, and without him that universe can no longer exist, which I called very meta Hollywood humor, comparing Paradox to a Hollywood executive, or perhaps more accurately to James Gunn dealing with the Snyderverse, choosing to end a universe outright rather than let it die slowly. I said I only fully connected that reasoning while writing my notes, and that the film could have made it clearer.

I also liked that the TVA effectively stands in for the suits at Marvel Studios in this movie, which I thought was a cleverer and more focused way to use the concept than the unfunny Kevin robot in She-Hulk. I noted that audiences generally are not interested in Hollywood business talk on screen, which could be a speed bump for the film, though I personally loved it and compared the pitch to jump to the MCU as feeling like Marvel making an offer.

The universe hopping search for a new Wolverine gave me my favorite comic book moment

Deadpool uses the TVA device he stole from Paradox to jump between universes looking for a replacement Wolverine, and I called this one of my two favorite sequences in the entire film. Hugh Jackman plays every Wolverine variant shown except one, which is a brief cameo from Henry Cavill, who I said looked and sounded fantastic, with Deadpool's line about treating him better than the guys down the street landing well.

What really sold the sequence for me was the Age of Apocalypse Wolverine variant. That storyline was one of the first X-Men comics I read, and I called it one of the greatest crossover events I have ever read, alongside Blackest Night, noting that neither has ever been adapted into live action despite decades of X-Men and superhero films. Seeing Age of Apocalypse acknowledged in this movie made me genuinely proud.

I also loved the deep cuts, including patch Wolverine in his original brown suit, which my audience reacted to strongly even if fewer of them had read Age of Apocalypse. I wished the brown suit Wolverine had gotten a real moment fighting Hulk rather than just a glimpse of the back of Hulk's head. The tiny, comics accurate Wolverine in a tight black outfit was another favorite, both funny and, in my view, a decent argument for why that exact look might not actually work on screen.

Chris Evans returns as Johnny Storm and Cassandra Nova proves brutally overpowered

Deadpool and Wolverine's first real fight is interrupted when Cassandra Nova's crew runs into them, bringing in Chris Evans, not as Captain America but as Johnny Storm. I knew this cameo was coming but did not know the exact context, and I said Chris Evans can still look very much like a movie star when he wants to, and that it was nice to see him get to be funny again. The post credit scene reveals that Johnny Storm really was trash talking Cassandra Nova the entire time, not just being set up by Deadpool as we are led to believe during the film.

On Cassandra Nova, I noted the character comes from essentially one comic panel where she puts her fingers into someone's head, and this film runs hard with that idea, giving Emma Corrin long prosthetic fingers and dramatic nails that I liked visually. She is extremely overpowered in this story, to the point that anyone who survives an encounter with her only does so because she allows it. After she skins Johnny Storm alive, the film has to make her erratic and unpredictable to explain why she does not simply kill everyone around her, comparing her in some ways to a collector digging through the TVA's discarded rejects. I said it is shocking that yet another MCU villain does not survive past a single film, and that it has become a running gag Marvel Studios should probably address.

The Honda Odyssey fight reveals why this Wolverine became an outcast

After escaping Cassandra Nova, Deadpool and Wolverine go looking for resistance fighters and end up arguing inside a car, which is where I loved Nicepool and his dog, dogpool. The fight stems from Deadpool having made what he calls an educated wish, using the TVA to try to help this Wolverine fix his past mistakes. Loki's cameo explains that the TVA will not intervene because those mistakes made this Wolverine who he is and allowed him to save his world.

We learn this Wolverine went on a bender the day humans finally succeeded in wiping out the other X-Men, and that he returned to find their bodies and flew into a berserker rage, killing not only the responsible humans but innocent ones too, confirming humanity's worst fears about mutants. I also liked the explanation for why he wears the yellow and blue suit, something he refused to wear while the X-Men were alive because he felt he was too cool for the team, delivering the line "God forbid they actually thought I wanted to be there." He later uses the X-Men's legacy of redeeming enemies to talk Cassandra Nova down, and I said Hugh Jackman's speech was heartfelt enough that I bought into it completely.

Elektra, X-23, Blade and Gambit lead the void resistance fighters

The void resistance fighters include Elektra, played by Jennifer Garner, X-23, Wesley Snipes's Blade, and Shawn Levy's version of Gambit, played by Channing Tatum. I noted a Ben Affleck Daredevil joke landed as ice cold given Affleck and Garner's real life history. I said Tatum, whose Gambit film never came together, ended up being the perfect version of the character for a Deadpool movie, comedic exaggerated Cajun accent and all, and that his card shuffling and staff work were the best individual moves in that fight.

The fight's goal is removing Juggernaut's helmet and putting it on Cassandra Nova to block her powers, though I questioned whether the logic actually holds. It is revealed that Pyro was secretly working for Paradox as well, who shoots Cassandra Nova while she wears the helmet, giving her motivation to leave the void and go after Paradox alongside Deadpool and Wolverine for the third act.

The Deadpool Corps fight and the sacrifice that closes out the story

That setup leads into my second favorite sequence, Deadpool and Wolverine against the Deadpool Corps, which I believe features Blake Lively voicing Lady Deadpool. I singled out Hugh Jackman using dogpool as a shield as one of the funniest beats, along with the reveal that Nicepool was the one Deadpool who could not regenerate, something our Deadpool only learns after already using him as a human shield. The pair then cut through the Deadpool Corps to Madonna's Like a Prayer, ending with them bursting through a bus in slow motion into a comics accurate pose that I called a thing of beauty, with Jackman's masked look reminding me of Joe Madureira's Wolverine artwork.

That leads into destroying Paradox's rogue TVA machine, tying back to an earlier scene where Deadpool auditions for the Avengers with Happy Hogan, who tells him the world needs you rather than you need it. That distinction becomes the reason Deadpool is willing to sacrifice himself here. Wolverine refuses to let him do it alone, and by sharing the trauma flowing through the machine from both sides they both survive, while Cassandra Nova, also hooked into the machine, does not. The effort blows off Wolverine's shirt, which I said was hilarious given the buildup, and Deadpool ends the film with dogpool, with Ryan Reynolds's interactions with the dog among the sweetest moments in the movie.

Looking at the whole film, I said the tight focus on Deadpool and Wolverine helped it even though it is technically a multiverse story that also pokes fun at multiverse stories. It played, in my view, like a great Deadpool and Wolverine team up comic from a strong era of Marvel Comics, and I said finishing it gave me the same satisfaction as finishing one of those issues.

Did the Deadpool Corps sequence or the Age of Apocalypse Wolverine reveal work better for you?