Superhero movies are like video games. They’re loud, flashy, underwritten, overlong, overburdened with CGI, populated with interchangeable characters and plot, topped off with an overwhelming dollop of sameness.
Prior to 2000, the only ones that worked for me were the two Michael Keaton “Batman” flicks, which don’t count since Batman isn’t a superhero but more of a billionaire playboy with a lot of neat gadgets. Since then, I’ve enjoyed only seven of the 47 Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) releases, six of which fall under the X-Men umbrella: “X2,” “X-Men: First Class,” “Logan,” and the now three “Deadpool” productions. The only non-X-Men MCU title I liked was the first “Iron Man” from 2008.
To be sure, the Deadpool movies suffer from many of the same problems as the other superhero flicks, but do so in smaller doses. They also separate themselves from the pack with hard-R ratings, self-awareness, and trainloads of genre-mocking satire. They lampoon the MCU while also celebrating it; a near-impossible feat to pull off with conviction.
The rub with this latest installment started with the sale of 20th Century Fox to Disney in March 2019. This was a year after the release of “Deadpool 2” and fans of the franchise were worried Disney would force any further releases to switch out that R rating for the more commercial- and family-friendly PG-13.
The first bit of good news came when producer, sometimes writer, and leading man, Ryan Reynolds nipped this in the bud and made it clear there would
