Did Deadpool and Wolverine Actually Save the MCU? Here Is My Honest Verdict

Deadpool and Wolverine broke box office records, fans absolutely loved the film, and then Marvel Studios announced that Robert Downey Jr is returning to the MCU to play probably the most iconic Marvel villain there is, Doctor Doom. In the space of a single weekend, fans went from being relatively excited about the MCU to extremely excited about it. I saw many comments on both my Deadpool review videos and my videos about Robert Downey Jr returning to play Doctor Doom stating that people hadn't really been following the MCU closely for a while, but now they are fully back in it.

This matters because the question going into Deadpool and Wolverine was whether it could actually save the MCU, whether Marvel could climb out of what some fans have called a slump. Not everything since Avengers Endgame has been a hit, though to be fair not everything before Endgame was either. Still, Marvel has gone through real struggles in recent years, some of which were out of their control entirely, including the pandemic and the writers strikes.

Marvel Studios Reportedly Renamed Avengers Kang Dynasty After the Jonathan Majors Situation

The Jonathan Majors situation threw off Marvel's plans in a huge way that they really could not have predicted. Once Majors was found guilty and Marvel Studios fired him, it was reported that Marvel Studios changed the title from Avengers Kang Dynasty to simply Avengers 5, because they did not yet know what the film would become, only that it was not going to be about Kang anymore.

That situation combined with some flops at the box office, which Marvel has definitely had recently with the exception of Guardians of the Galaxy, plus some flops on Disney Plus, led a lot of fans to say the MCU is dead or that it is not peak MCU anymore. Even Deadpool and Wolverine itself makes the joke, with Deadpool telling Wolverine he is joining the MCU at a low point. The film even jokes that Deadpool is Marvel Jesus, playing on the idea that he is going to save not just his own universe on the sacred timeline, but the actual MCU from mediocrity in our reality.

By Box Office Standards, Deadpool and Wolverine Absolutely Saved the MCU

Looking at this purely by box office standards, yes, it absolutely saved the MCU, because it already broke records and was on track to be a billion dollar movie. The reviews were mostly fantastic, and people kept saying they planned to see it again, or more than once, more than twice, even more than three times. I know people who saw it five times. In that sense, it really did help Marvel recover from its recent box office performances.

But going into a more literal sense, does Deadpool actually save the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the universe inside of which everything takes place? No, at least not that we know of. We don't have evidence that anything he did in the movie saved another universe besides his own, and the Multiverse aspects of this movie ended up being smaller than a lot of us expected going in.

The Multiverse Concepts Were Big but the Film Did Not Show a Clear Direction for the MCU

There were a few concepts introduced that were pretty significant, like anchor beings entering the MCU, but overall this was not a hugely Multiverse-altering movie despite Deadpool traveling to different universes. We did not see any incursions or anything on that scale. As far as showing that Marvel Studios has a clear direction for where the MCU is heading, Deadpool and Wolverine didn't really establish that either.

I don't think that's actually a bad thing. I believe Shawn Levy, Ryan Reynolds, and Hugh Jackman made exactly the movie they set out to make, and because of that it was awesome. It wasn't a perfect movie, some parts could have been better, but it operates on another level compared to a lot of recent Marvel projects. In that sense I believe Deadpool did save the MCU, because fans are now saying this is what Marvel is to us, great, amazing movies with great action and heartfelt moments, and I think it restored a lot of fans' faith and hope for what's coming from Marvel Studios.

Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom Reveal Came Two Days After Deadpool and Wolverine's Release

Two days after Deadpool and Wolverine released, Marvel Studios announced that Robert Downey Jr is returning to the MCU to play Doctor Doom, and they didn't just announce it quietly. He appeared on stage dressed as Doom and lifted up the mask to reveal it was him. This broke the internet, and it is a moment that will go down in history for Marvel fans, one of the biggest superhero announcements of all time, and I think it always will be, whether people liked the choice or not.

Because of that reveal, interest in Marvel is close to an all-time high. It might not be all the way up with Avengers Endgame, since that was the culmination of so many films, characters, and the ending of the first saga, but since Endgame this is the highest excitement point we've been at, driven by both Deadpool and Wolverine being great and the Robert Downey Jr Doom announcement landing the way it did.

Anchor Beings and Hints That the Void Is Battleworld Suggested Marvel Actually Had a Plan

The introduction of a few key multiversal aspects in Deadpool and Wolverine, like anchor beings, timelines and universes dying once those anchor beings are gone, and heavy hints that the Void might actually be Battleworld, got people excited to see what comes next because it looked like Marvel Studios did have a plan when they made this movie. The one thing fans wanted from San Diego Comic-Con's Marvel Hall H panel was clear direction on that plan, specifically whether Kang Dynasty was still happening and whether Kang was still the villain.

Marvel answered that in the biggest way they possibly could have. They confirmed Kang is gone, Doom is now the main villain, Robert Downey Jr is playing Doom, and the next Avengers film is titled Avengers Doomsday. Between Deadpool and Wolverine and San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel created not just an all-time high of excitement since Endgame, but also fresh excitement for upcoming projects that fans had not been excited about recently.

Fans Had Lost Faith in Captain America, Blade, and Armor Wars Before This Weekend

A lot of people were not excited for Agatha All Along going in, and I can understand why even though I personally hoped it would be good. Many fans had also lost faith in the new Captain America movie because of how many rewrites and reshoots it went through, and the same uncertainty applied to Blade. We hadn't heard anything about Armor Wars in a long time, and fans had genuinely been worried.

I know there are fans who have loved everything Marvel Studios has put out, and I'm honestly a little jealous of that, because I have not loved everything myself. I've been public about not really liking Secret Invasion, about not watching What If anymore, and about not being the biggest fan of The Marvels, though I don't think it was as bad as everyone said, just not good either. Still, I've managed to casually enjoy pretty much everything, because it's still Marvel, it's still the MCU, and I still love it.

My Personal Verdict: This Is the Most Excited I Have Been About Marvel in Years

Right now is the most excited and hopeful I have personally been about the MCU in an incredibly long time. To answer the question for myself, did Deadpool and Wolverine and the Robert Downey Jr announcement save the MCU, yes, I believe they did. Honestly, even without the Doom announcement, just going off Deadpool and Wolverine alone, I'd still say yes, because Marvel reignited that spark that made us excited about the MCU the way we used to be.

When I came out of watching Deadpool and Wolverine, I thought, "yeah we're back baby, like this is it, this is awesome." I said I was going to see that movie many more times in theaters, something I hadn't said about a Marvel film in a long time. Then two days later the Robert Downey Jr reveal blew me away in a completely different way than I imagined, and I'm one of the people who genuinely loves that decision. Whether you love it, hate it, or land somewhere in between, everyone is talking about what Marvel does next, and that alone tells me interest in Marvel is at its highest point since Avengers Endgame.

What do you think, did Deadpool and Wolverine and the Doctor Doom reveal actually save the MCU for you?