The Real Problem With Deadpool & Wolverine

With an estimated $65 million worldwide box office at the time of writing (via Deadline), it'd be hard to imagine how there'd be any problems with the return of Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and his friend with cutlery sets stored in his knuckles. That's because there aren't any. "Deadpool & Wolverine" is the absolutely essential supercharged comic book movie that Marvel Studios was desperate for after "The Marvels" bombed at the box office, and thankfully, Wade Wilson was the necessary sweary secret weapon to mend the blockbuster-making machine. But for all its cameos, clever jokes and nearly atomic-level chemistry between Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, the concern isn't for the highly-anticipated threequel, but Wade's fit in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

To quote the Merc with the Mouth, he's come to the franchise "at a little bit of a low point," which begs the question of how and if he will play in the rest of the MCU. When and if the call to fight in the Secret Wars comes, how will Deadpool manage alongside the likes of wall-crawlers and masters of Ten Rings? Well, in order to do so, he'll have to improve in the storytelling department since he's in the big leagues now, with a tightly(ish) woven story to match.

Fun as it is, the "Deadpool & Wolverine" plot is as thin as an adamantium blade, with some of it not even making any sense. While some previous MCU entries might have struggled with their story beats, the difference was that there was more meat on the bone that didn't come with laughs. Characters were fleshed out when they could be, while still aiming for the objective of doing something that the Deadpool films have made their bread and butter poking fun at: world-building.

At its peak, the MCU sent a clear message to "never miss a beat or you'll miss out," making for an even more enjoyable viewing experience. While that's obviously been done here, with this sweary, bloody buddy movie having Wade and Wolverine yell at each other, this is their story, through and through. How will the Merc with the Mouth handle things when he finds himself in someone else's tale? Can he coordinate with Captain America on a mission or let Doctor Strange do his thing? For those instances, it's going to be a team effort that will demand Deadpool rein it in a little. It's just a matter of whether the character, or the man that so lovingly fought to get him on-screen can do that.

Volatile, self-obsessed, and doesn't play well with others. That's as much as Tony Stark's breakdown as it is Wade's, and he's got a trilogy to prove it. That said, Deadpool adventures are as much Ryan Reynolds movies as they are stories about the hero ingrained in the actor's DNA (if not more so). What would a film look like where Wade's not the center of attention? While the big mouth in red and black might've been manageable in the comics, can Reynolds follow suit and apply maximum effort as a team player or, dare we say, have someone else put words in Deadpool's mouth?

Since the beginning, Reynolds has been at the forefront of pushing this F-bomb-dropping dummy to box office supremacy and even earned a writing credit for each installment. But with Deadpool now diving headfirst into this universe, it could see him handing over creative control to another filmmaker. Could such a transition really work though? Historically, throwing misfits into the big movie franchise after they've spent so long elsewhere isn't new. The Guardians of the Galaxy going from James Gunn to the Russo brothers in "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Endgame" was seamless, but does Wade have it in him to do the same, and can it survive in non-R-rated territory?

Deadpool firing off jokes by the dozen are what people pay to see, but he'll have to prune some material when he's uniting with other heroes to face a common threat. Fourth wall breaks could be overlooked given that Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk, (Tatiana Maslany) already beat him to it and no one involved seemed to care. In that area, Wade can be let off the hook, but not when it comes to his non-family-friendly rants that will have no place in the company of other iconic Marvel heroes. He's not going to be able to talk about pegging or skirt around the mention of cocaine. The threats will be greater, the team dynamic even more important, and Wilson will need to be on his best behavior for all of it.

When that time comes is unknown, but given the unsurprisingly massive success of "Deadpool & Wolverine," it feels like a safe bet to make. By then, we can only hope that the hero who's become one of the most popular comic book movie leads of all time finally gets his act together and doesn't lose his mind when he realizes that Mary Jane looks like Zendaya from "The Greatest Showman" or that eventually, there's really more than one Blade, after all.