Deadpool & Wolverine: Ryan Reynolds’ ‘Marvel Jesus’ Status isn’t Enough to Save the MCU Despite Hugh Jackman Returning for Nostalgia Bait

Let’s face it: The MCU has been in a rut and Ryan Reynolds has stepped into the pit of ruins with Deadpool & Wolverine, ready to turn the studio around into a Wrexham-style victory. As the honorary adoptive father of strays, losers, and underdogs, the fans are in no place to refuse the actor his benevolent decision to take up “Saving the MCU” as his next passion project.

While Reynolds legally declares himself as Marvel Jesus, the fans wait in high anticipation as the Merc With a Mouth arrives armed and ready to perform a miracle and resurrect the dying universe. MCU fans, in the meanwhile, have given up all pretense of shame and desperation and have taken to chanting Deadpool 3‘s name in the hopes that it might ultimately save the Marvel universe.

Deadpool & Wolverine Shows Cause for MCU Resurrection?

Nostalgia is one of the leading grounds for Marvel still staying afloat in the comic book industry despite the flickering state of its existence. However, nostalgia just might not be enough to save the entire industry this time around. Due to one epic disaster after another, the “shield integrity” of Marvel is at a critical low, and the protective shell that still preserves the fandom within it might come crashing down with a single wrong move on the studio’s part.

Ryan Reynolds‘ Deadpool & Wolverine now sits at the devil’s crossroads facing a difficult realization. Despite the power to save an entire cinematic universe in its palm, one question remains – will this movie resurrect a newly motivated universe and set it on the right path toward salvation, or is Deadpool 3 just one anomaly in an already doomed universe struggling to even stay relevant?

With that being said, MCU’s inclusion of the spectrum of X-Men and the First Family may be reason enough to offer a glimmer of hope for its future. But Hugh Jackman‘s return and the Multiversal mess of Deadpool & Wolverine proves Marvel is still sticking to its tired old and overworked concept of nostalgia bait to force one more movie down the audience’s throats.

Forget the Multiverse, Bring Back the Consistency in MCU

With Marvel fatigue already setting in at a dizzying pace, and fans flocking to DCU to witness James Gunn‘s revolutionary origin to a new saga, Kevin Feige needs to listen to the outcry of the last 4 years and get down to business.

A few duds may be an occupational hazard in the entertainment business, but a studio as brilliant as Marvel with such a depthless resource of comics lore, pockets deep enough to surpass the GDP of several countries, and unrestricted access to writers, creators, artists, and visionaries should not be struggling this hard to produce good content for so long.

Despite the MCU shouldering the burden of the Multiverse after Phase Three and the timelines veering off into a catastrophe monumental enough to enslave and beat even Loki into submission, the Marvel universe needs to pause a little and think back to an era of undefeated glory. What made the MCU of Phases One, Two, and Three such unbeatable monsters in the movie industry?

The detached inconsistency of the fever dream that was Phase Four holds all the answers. With projects having little to no link or meaningful connection to the larger universe and its companion films, Marvel has lost its primary identity as an interconnected universe building on its shared plot and a common enemy toward an ultimate showdown.

The studio needs to stop pretending that it has become unimpeachable due to its once-glorified era. The Multiverse has to take a backseat while the MCU works on bringing back consistency into its stories, without which Deadpool & Wolverine will be just one life raft in a boat headed toward an iceberg bigger than the one that sank the Titanic.

Deadpool & Wolverine premieres on July 26, 2024.