You may have noticed it’s been a little quiet here lately and that’s because life has been keeping me busy with a few other things of late and I’ve not had the chance to visit the cinema as often as I would have hoped.

So with a free Friday night, I decided to treat myself to see the latest Marvel instalment: Deadpool & Wolverine.

Not only has it been a while since my last visit to the cinema, I also haven’t watched any Marvel productions since the disappointment of Thor: Love and Thunder. I had decided to take a break and while it was never meant to be permanent, I haven’t found myself wanting to jump back in.

In an unusual move for myself, I didn’t rewatch any of the previous Deadpool or X-Men films (and it doesn’t take much for me to have an impromptu X-Men marathon, it’s always been my favourite of the comic series). I also didn’t research what I should watch first and tried my best to avoid spoilers. Unfortunately I did see a few things during the week but nothing to spoil my enjoyment.

I think that Deadpool is a good film to dip back into the franchise. It delivers exactly what you expect: lude jokes, forth wall breaks, tons of violence, and fight sequences galore.

This instalment also contained a killer soundtrack and many cameos. I quite liked the snippets from the Greatest Showman that we heard. The film also pokes fun along the way, leaving many fans questioning how they were able to get away with saying such things. A line which appealed to me and I’m guessing many others of similar mind was the “Welcome to the MCU. You’re joining at a bit of a low point.”

Circling back to the cameos, that is probably want makes this different to the previous Deadpool films. The previous films have included cameos of other characters from the series but were limited to an extent on the options available. Now that this instalment is part of the MCU, that provides many additional options but it’s not going to be what you think. Apart from the obvious inclusion of Wolverine, you will be pleased to see who has made the cut. That’s all I will say on that!

The plot is a relatively simple story. Nothing fancy or complicated but it doesn’t need to be. It’s an easy-to-follow premise, setting up an enjoyable viewing experience. We also welcome Matthew Macfadyen to the MCU as a key character in the narrative, something I wasn’t aware of going in and was not upset by that!

What probably makes this film such a success is that by all appearances it looked fun to make. Everybody has been waiting for these two characters to be in a film together for such a long time and to rewrite the ‘wrongs’ of X-Men Origins. You really get the sense that they weren’t sure if they would get another go at this and wanted to take the advantage to make the best film they could. There are also many jokes about this partnership continuing well into the future with Disney now involved, and I guess we will have to wait to see what happens next.

If you are already a fan of the franchise, you’re really going to enjoy the film and likely have already seen it by now. The film is really playing towards its target audience. To me, it feels like a film for the fans by the fans. You will have a lot of laughs and plenty of fun.

I would suggest watching at least Loki Season 1 beforehand. I haven’t watched Season 2 yet, so unsure if that would have enhanced my viewing experience or not. You can follow along without having seen the previous two Deadpool films or Logan. That said, if you have not seen them, they are great films and I would also suggest viewing them before Deadpool & Wolverine.

So while you find a session to book, I will excuse myself to watch the opening sequence yet again. The Deadpool films always do this so well and this one, well *chef’s kiss*.

Rating:  Great