Deadpool & Wolverine has a huge burden to bear. As the only film to be released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) this year, it is single-handedly expected to revive the recently waning interest in superhero blockbusters. So far, everything looks set to exceed all expectations from a box office perspective.
For me too, Deadpool & Wolverine is the great beacon of hope that must save the MCU. But not from a financial perspective, but from a creative perspective. Because after 19 live-action projects of the Multiverse saga, I finally want to see the multiverse! And the upcoming superhero team-up might finally make that wish come true.
Before Deadpool & Wolverine: A sobering conclusion after 10 films of the Multiverse Saga
After the brilliant Avengers 4: Endgame, the so-called Multiverse saga officially began with the subsequent 4th phase of the MCU. 10 films and 9 series later, however, we have seen surprisingly little of the eponymous multiverse. Or as Doctor Strange would put it: “The multiverse is a construct about which we know shockingly little.“
From the previous Multiverse Saga projects Only four films and one series have specifically dealt with the multiverse. The concept of multiple alternate realities and universes is actually an inexhaustible source of creative possibilities – and to this day I am waiting in vain for the MCU to draw on it.
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Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker lands in the MCU
Because let’s be honest: We haven’t really seen much of the multiverse yet. Spider-Man: No Way Home showed us villains and Spider-Men from different universes, but brought them all together in the reality of the MCU as we know it. The same applies to the Disney+ series Loki, which explains and visualizes all the important mechanisms of the multiverse, but ultimately little interest in foreign worlds showed.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania also had little multiversal spectacle to offer, apart from the villain Kang and a brief look at his countless variants. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was the first to venture into the multiverse, but in the end the film actually only explored an alternative world, Earth 838, narratively. A brief detour into an X-Men universe at the end of The Marvels is unfortunately hardly worth mentioning either.
Now that the multiverse saga spanning three phases has already reached its halfway point, my conclusion as a Marvel fan is sobering. The only exception is the animated series What If…?, which, with its alternative histories, makes it more than clear what the live-action projects are lacking. Could Deadpool & Wolverine finally turn things around?
With Deadpool & Wolverine, the MCU must finally exploit the potential of the multiverse
Don’t get me wrong: The fact that we have already been presented with some alternative versions of well-known superheroes (or villains) is of course interesting and I look forward to every cameo with excitement. But I would much rather travel to other universes with which the MCU can fully exploit its creative potential can.
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Off to the multiverse!
A universe in which all superheroes are zombies? A universe in which corrupt supervillains enslave humanity? Or a universe in which the Avengers consist of talking animals? That’s what I want to see. And that’s why Deadpool & Wolverine is my great hope. Because who would be better suited to completely bizarre and wacky ideas than the meta-antihero Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds).
We already know from the trailers that the first MCU film with Deadpool in the lead role will actually explore alternative universes. After all, the title heroes Deadpool and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) come from from a completely different film universe and meet alternate versions of superheroes and villains from previous Marvel chapters from 20th Century Fox.
That the main trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine comes with a promising Jump into a magical portal ends, already made my heart beat faster and gave me hope that I would finally see the multiverse trip that I have been wanting for years.
Whether Deadpool & Wolverine will really fulfill the great promise of the multiverse saga and explore the vastness of the comic book universes remains a closely guarded secret until the film’s release. And that’s exactly what makes me hope for the best.
Deadpool & Wolverine starts on July 24, 2024 in German cinemas.