Marvel Won’t Learn The Right Lesson From Deadpool & Wolverine
Deadpool & Wolverine continued the franchise tradition of breaking the fourth wall, and the Merc With a Mouth had plenty of funny things to say about Marvel’s multiverse. For example, he pointed out that The Wizard of Oz is the only film to do the multiverse concept right and welcomed Wolverine into the MCU while admitting that this is a “low point.” He’s mocking Marvel’s obsession with the multiverse in Phases 4 and 5, but mark my words: Marvel will learn nothing from this because once Deadpool & Wolverine makes a billion dollars at the box office, we’ll surely get more phases filled with fresh variants and their stale stories.
Marvel’s Multiverse Misadventures
On the surface level, Deadpool’s comments may make it seem like Marvel has learned from the mistake of going all-in on the multiverse. They have heard the audience’s complaints, experienced poor box office returns, and are ready to joke about their failures. Surely, that means that Marvel will be making fewer trips to the multiverse for future adventures…right?
Deadpool And Wolverine Is Already A Massive Success
Sadly, that’s not how any of this is going to go down. Marvel is able to joke about the multiverse now because their box office receipts have been in free-fall and they are willing to poke fun at themselves in their reliable summer blockbuster as a way of earning back some audience goodwill. However, this film may prove to be an Endgame-style hit, and once all that sweet money rolls in, Marvel executives will try to incorporate some of what made Deadpool & Wolverine a hit into their upcoming features.
Makes Fun Of The Very Multiverse It Occupies
While Deadpool & Wolverine takes some fun potshots at Marvel’s alternate dimension obsession, this film itself is steeped in the multiverse. We get a fun montage of different Wolverines, we get a giant battle with an army of Deadpools…heck, both Deadpool’s greatest ally and his worst enemy in this film come from the multiverse. When Marvel tries to figure out what made this movie work, I fear they will look right over the tight script made with clear love and decide that we need more movies featuring Variants and inter-dimensional shenanigans.
Robert Downey Jr’s Future Involvement Raises Questions
The fact that Marvel isn’t done with the multiverse was made quite clear by the San Diego Comic-Con revelation that Robert Downey, Jr. will be returning to the MCU to play Doctor Doom. It’s not yet clear exactly how Tony Stark will now be playing a villain…he could be a simple Iron Man variant, or maybe he comes from the upcoming Fantastic Four movie’s alternate reality. Regardless of exactly how it happens, Marvel has signified that their go-to move will always be bringing back old faces in new ways instead of simply introducing new compelling characters into this cinematic universe.
Script Writing Should Take Priority Over Setting
Now, I’m no Marvel hater…I really enjoyed Deadpool & Wolverine, and that movie is proof positive that there are still great multiverse stories to tell. Unfortunately, not all such stories are created equally, and Marvel has continuously thrown out cutesy Variants as a band-aid over a larger problem: a serious lack of good scripts. Here’s hoping that changes soon or Robert Downey Jr. won’t be the only “doom” coming to this beloved cinematic universe.
