Now that Deadpool & Wolverine is officially here, we’ve gone from “LFG” to “LF… OMG!” thanks to the unfortunately mixed reactions to the long-awaited cinematic return for both Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with the Mouth and Hugh Jackman’s adamantium X-Man.
The trailers promised the most fan-pleasing MCU movie since Spider-Man: No Way Home, but while audiences at large have yet to dive into it, the first reviews are in — and they’re not entirely encouraging. While the film’s sense of fun and the comedic chemistry and individual performances by its two leads are being praised, many critics are blasting it for feeling more like an exercise in corporate synergy than a piece of storytelling.
As things currently stand, Deadpool 3 sports a mere 54 rating on Metacritic, which it’s been pointed out is 1 point lower than notorious mass-murderer of childhood dreams The Flash (disclaimer: your personal mileage may vary on that one). What’s more, its official Rotten Tomatoes critics rating is still under construction but it’s sitting at 80% at the time of writing, and that is sure to drop precipitously as more reviews roll in.
So how is the fandom taking this unfortunate news? Pretty much as you would think: with a healthy disregard for what the reviews are saying. As one tweet that’s received over 8000 likes puts it, “Me personally I don’t believe it. I think the audience is going to have a totally different score.”
This is pretty much the uniform opinion right across the board. The real determiner for most folks, it seems, will be how the audience ratings fare once they come in.
On the upside, at least one person who has already seen a chunk of the movie can categorically say that it’s (justice) leagues better than The Flash.
The fandom’s stance here is a totally fair one, of course, as we should all wait to make up our own minds about a film until we see it for ourselves. It’s just ironic that nobody said “whoa, let’s wait for the audience score” when critics savaged Madame Web in February. As it is, reviews clearly indicate that Deadpool & Wolverine is the weakest of its trilogy. For instance, Deadpool and Deadpool 2 have 85% and 84%, respectively, on Rotten Tomatoes.
Thankfully, the box office returns promise to turn out just as robust as was expected, but it sounds like Deadpool & Wolverine might just end up being yet another divisive entry in the MCU post-Endgame. Expect folks to be debating about the relative merits of the Merc with the Mouth’s latest adventure for a long time to come.