Deadpool & Wolverine

Plot

In 2018, Wade Wilson uses Cable's time travel device to prevent the death of his girlfriend, Vanessa Carlysle. He then travels from his universe, Earth-10005, to Earth-616—also called the "Sacred Timeline"—hoping to join that reality's Avengers. He is rejected by Happy Hogan and returns to his own universe. Six years later, Wade has broken up with Vanessa, retired from being the masked mercenary Deadpool, and works as a used-car salesman with his friend and former X-Force member Peter Wisdom.

During Wade's birthday party, he is detained by the Time Variance Authority (TVA) and brought to Mr. Paradox, who explains that they are an organization outside of time that monitors the Sacred Timeline and the wider multiverse. He offers Wade a future on the Sacred Timeline which Wade accepts, until Paradox reveals that Wade's universe is deteriorating as a result of the death of its stabilizing "anchor being", Logan. Paradox plans to use a "Time Ripper" device to accelerate this process. Wade steals Paradox's TemPad device and uses it to travel to Logan's grave, hoping to resurrect him and save their timeline. When this fails, Wade travels the multiverse searching for a replacement "variant" of Logan.

Wade returns to the TVA with a variant of Logan. Paradox says an anchor being cannot be replaced, especially by this variant who is considered to be the worst Wolverine in the multiverse. When Wade deduces that Paradox is acting without the knowledge of his superiors, Paradox sends Wade and Logan to the Void, a wasteland at the end of time. Wade claims the TVA can change events in Logan's past, convincing him to work together to escape the Void. The pair are captured alongside Johnny Storm and taken to Cassandra Nova, the powerful and sadistic twin sister of X-Men leader Charles Xavier. Cassandra, who made a deal with the TVA to oversee the Void, kills Johnny and leaves Wade and Logan to be consumed by the creature Alioth, but the pair escape.

Logan and Wade meet Deadpool variants "Nicepool" and "Dogpool", who direct them towards a resistance group that has been fighting Cassandra. Wade accidentally admits that he is not certain whether the TVA can change Logan's timeline, and the pair fight until they are both unconscious. They are found by the resistance group, consisting of Laura, Elektra, Blade, and Gambit. Wade proposes an alliance and Laura convinces Logan—regretful of his past actions which led to the deaths of his fellow X-Men—to join. The resistance members distract Cassandra's henchmen while Wade and Logan block her powers using Juggernaut's helmet. Cassandra is betrayed by her follower Pyro on behalf of Paradox and almost dies, until Logan convinces Wade to remove the helmet. Cassandra heals herself and uses a Sling Ring to open a portal to Earth-10005 for Logan and Wade.

Cast

Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool:A wisecracking mercenary from Earth-10005 with accelerated healing but severe scarring over his body after undergoing an experimental regenerative mutation to treat terminal cancer. Wade begins the film retired from being Deadpool, no longer dating Vanessa Carlysle, and working as a used car salesman. Writer Rhett Reese described Deadpool as a fish-out-of water, a lunatic dropped into the "sane world" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Though Reynolds said the audience did not have to take Deadpool seriously, particularly with his fourth wall breaking and unreliable narration, he wanted them to be invested in the other characters. Deadpool's opening dance number was performed by Nick Pauley, who is credited as "Dancepool". Reynolds also portrays the alternate universe "variant" Nicepool, who has no scars or healing factor, for which he is credited as "Gordon Reynolds".

Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine:A mutant and former member of the X-Men with healing abilities, retractable claws, and an adamantium-infused skeleton. This Wolverine is a variant from a universe that he let down. This, and the pairing with Deadpool, allowed Jackman to explore new aspects of the character from his appearances as a different version of Wolverine in 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series. Jackman said Logan and Wade are opposites and have a "quarreling dynamic", while director Shawn Levy said their relationship is affected by both characters being "haunted with regret". They chose to depict the character's backstory, including the deaths of his fellow X-Men, through sound design only to keep the focus on Wolverine's regrets rather than on the appearances of other characters. To prepare for the role, Jackman began a vigorous workout routine that included eating up to 8,000 calories a day. Jackman also portrays several other Wolverine variants: one possessing the character's comic book-accurate height of 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm), with actor Luke Bennett serving as body double; Wolverine's gambling alter-ego Patch, who wears an eyepatch and white tuxedo; an Old Man Logan variant; a variant being crucified on a giant X, inspired by the cover of Uncanny X-Men #251 (July 1989); a variant wearing a brown costume who fights the Hulk, referencing the cover of The Incredible Hulk #340 (October 1987); and an Age of Apocalypse (1995) variant with glam rock hair, one hand, and a black-and-red costume.

Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova:A mutant with telekinetic and telepathic powers who is the twin sister of Charles Xavier. She rules over the Void, a wasteland at the end of time. Having not played many villains before, Corrin was excited to take on the role and was inspired by Christoph Waltz's character Hans Landa from the film Inglourious Basterds (2009). Reynolds and Levy explained Cassandra to Corrin as someone who would endear others to the point that "you are going to be best friends for life", only to realize she could easily kill them. Corrin was interested in having a physical transformation for the role but was told by the studio that this was not required for the character. Corrin also wanted to pay homage to Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy's performances as Xavier in previous X-Men films, and to be faithful to Cassandra's relationship with Xavier in the comics.

Production

Background

After the success of Deadpool (2016), 20th Century Fox began developing two sequels. The third film was set to include the superhero team X-Force. Deadpool director Tim Miller chose not to return for the sequels due to creative differences with star Ryan Reynolds, and David Leitch was hired to direct Deadpool 2 (2018) in November 2016. Fox was looking for another filmmaker to develop the third film. In March 2017, Deadpool and Deadpool 2 co-writer Rhett Reese said X-Force would be introduced in Deadpool 2 before starring in a planned spin-off film that would launch "something bigger", separate from the third Deadpool film, which would be more personal. When the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced in December 2017, the Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger said Reynolds's Wade Wilson / Deadpool would be integrated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). This was despite those films being rated PG-13 and the Deadpool films being R-rated. Iger was willing to make R-rated Deadpool films "as long as we let the audiences know what's coming" and said a "Marvel-R brand" could be created for characters like Deadpool. In May 2018, Reynolds said a third Deadpool film may not be made due to the shift of focus to X-Force. Reese and his writing partner Paul Wernick said a third film would happen after Reynolds took a break from the character and the X-Force film was released, similar to the MCU crossover film The Avengers (2012) being released between Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013).

At the end of May 2018, Leitch expressed interest in returning for another Deadpool film, depending on the schedule. A third Deadpool film was believed to be in active development by that August, with production planned to take place in Atlanta, Georgia, rather than in Vancouver, Canada, where the previous films were made. Once Upon a Deadpool, a PG-13 version of Deadpool 2, was released at the end of the year. It was watched carefully by Disney and Marvel Studios to see how it might inform their approach to the character in the MCU. While promoting Once Upon a Deadpool, Reynolds confirmed that a third Deadpool film was in development and said it would go in a "completely different direction". Reynolds later revealed that they were considering a road trip film styled after Rashomon (1950) featuring Hugh Jackman's X-Men film series character Logan / Wolverine. Karan Soni, who portrayed Dopinder in the first two Deadpool films, reiterated these plans and explained that the film would have focused on Deadpool trying to save Christmas by going on a road trip to the North Pole. Jackman had himself envisioned a team-up film with Reynolds inspired by 48 Hrs. (1982) while attending a screening of Deadpool in 2016, but chose to retire from the role of Wolverine after Logan (2017). In March 2019, Disney officially acquired Fox and gained the film rights to several Marvel Comics characters for Marvel Studios, including Deadpool and the X-Men. The Marvel-based films that Fox had been developing were placed "on hold".

Development

Reynolds announced that he was meeting with Marvel Studios in October 2019. At that time, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was unsure how to integrate Deadpool, the X-Men, and mutants in general into the MCU. He described Reynolds as an "idea machine" who pitched many different approaches for the film, including a low-budget road trip film with Deadpool and Dopinder that was compared to independent films, and one that included a dance number with Wolverine set to Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues". Reynolds also pitched his previous idea for a Rashomon–style team-up with Wolverine that would tell one story from three different perspectives, but was told it would not be possible to include Wolverine. In December, Reynolds said the "whole team" was actively developing a Deadpool film at Marvel Studios.

Reynolds and Marvel Studios met with potential writers throughout October 2020, including Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin. Their pitch aligned with Reynolds and Marvel's intentions for the film, and the pair were hired the next month. Reynolds and the studio were open to Leitch returning as director, and he met with them about it, but scheduling prevented him from returning. While filming The Adam Project (2022) with director Shawn Levy, Reynolds asked Levy about working together on the next Deadpool film and Levy was enthusiastic about the idea. In January 2021, Feige said Reynolds was supervising the writing process and his busy schedule meant filming would not begin until after 2021. An idea Reynolds had in 2020 or 2021 was for an action sequence set to the song "Like a Prayer" by Madonna. It was intended to follow the death of Piotr Rasputin / Colossus which would have motivated Deadpool after being at a low point. In July, Reynolds and Taika Waititi promoted their film Free Guy (2021), also directed by Levy, as their respective Marvel characters Deadpool and Korg in a commercial titled Deadpool and Korg React. Deadpool, who often breaks the fourth wall, discusses joining the MCU with Korg in the commercial. The next month, Feige said filming would begin in 2022 and Marvel Studios had a release timeframe in mind. In November, Beetz and Rob Delaney expressed interest in returning as their Deadpool 2 characters Domino and Peter Wisdom. Beetz ultimately did not return.

Levy was revealed to be directing the film in March 2022, and said filming would not begin until after 2022 due to his busy schedule through the remainder of the year. Reese and Wernick were hired to rewrite the screenplay, and said they were excited to use MCU elements. They added that Disney and Marvel were supportive of Deadpool making meta jokes about the MCU because of the success of the previous Deadpool films. In June, Raymond Chan was revealed to be the production designer after working on the Marvel Studios miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). A month later, Feige said the film would be elevated from the first two in a similar way to other third installments of MCU film series, such as Captain America: Civil War (2016), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018).

Pre-production

Pre-production work began by October 2022, less than two months after Jackman decided to join. Jacobson said this was one of the fastest turnarounds she had seen for a big production. The release date was pushed back to November 8, 2024, to accommodate other MCU film delays. In December, Levy said filming was set to begin in May 2023. Reynolds lobbied Marvel Studios to film in Vancouver, where he is from and the previous Deadpool films were made, but conceded that "they have their [established] infrastructure, and you just have to sort of fall in line". Filming was set to take place in London by February 2023.

Patrick Stewart, who portrayed Charles Xavier / Professor X in the X-Men film series and reprised the role in the MCU film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), said in February that he had been approached about potentially making an appearance in the film, but Levy later denied that there were ever any plans for Stewart to appear. Also that month, Emma Corrin joined the cast in a lead villain role. Marvel had been considering Corrin since late 2022, after Levy saw them in a stage production of Virginia Woolf's Orlando, but there were scheduling issues that had to be worked through before Corrin signed on. In March, the Time Variance Authority (TVA) and other elements from the MCU television series Loki (2021–2023) were reported to be appearing. Matthew Macfadyen joined the cast in an undisclosed role, which was described as a third wheel to Deadpool and Wolverine. Leading up to the start of filming, several cast members were confirmed to be reprising their roles from the previous Deadpool films: Karan Soni as Dopinder, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Morena Baccarin as Vanessa Carlysle, Stefan Kapičić as the voice of Piotr Rasputin / Colossus, Rob Delaney as Peter Wisdom, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Shioli Kutsuna as Yukio.

Levy said developing the film was one of the most fun creative experiences of his career, citing its self-awareness, violence, and foul language. He did not want to alter the franchise's DNA and called the new film "raw, audacious, [and] very much R-rated", comparing it to the buddy comedy films 48 Hrs., Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), and Midnight Run (1988). Soni said it was "taking full advantage of the MCU" and would feature jokes about Feige. Levy said there was one line that Disney asked to be changed, which was revealed when a version of the script was published in anticipation of awards season: "Disney is so cheap. I can barely breathe with all this Mickey Mouse cock in my throat" was changed to "Fuck, now Disney gets cheap? It's like Pinocchio jammed his face in my ass and started lying like crazy."

Filming

Principal photography began on May 22, 2023, taking place in London and at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England, under the working title Tidal Wave. George Richmond served as the cinematographer after working with Levy and Reynolds on Free Guy, while George Cottle was the supervising stunt coordinator and second unit director. Levy worked with Marvel Studios and the producers of the Netflix series Stranger Things (2016–2025), on which he was an executive producer, so their schedules would allow him to direct episodes of that series' final season since filming for the two projects was expected to overlap. The production was not expected to be impacted by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike that began in early May, outside of Reynolds being unable to contribute to the script during filming as he had done for the previous films. Marvel Studios was reportedly planning to shoot what they could during principal photography and make any necessary writing adjustments during already scheduled reshoots. Location filming was prioritized over soundstages where possible, because the filmmakers felt this gave the film a more grounded feeling. In mid-June, the release date was moved forward to May 3, 2024.

Filming for a car crash took place in London in early July 2023. Reynolds and Jackman filmed scenes in Norfolk soon after. Production was suspended on July 14 because of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. 35 days of filming were completed before the shutdown, with another 35 days left. Baccarin completed all of her scenes prior to the strike. Filming was set to resume following the conclusion of the dual Hollywood strikes, and Disney paid to keep the sets intact during the hiatus. Levy and Reynolds began work on the editing and visual effects, though they had not prioritized filming major visual effects sequences before the strike. Levy compared one of the filmed sequences to the lightsaber duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in the film Return of the Jedi (1983), and had asked the stunt team to look to that scene's blocking, tempo, and framing. Cottle was allowed to give input on the editing and direction. Another key action sequence is the one that Reynolds wanted to be set to Madonna's "Like a Prayer", which had evolved to include Wolverine alongside Deadpool. Reynolds and Levy met with the singer to ask for permission to use the song, which she gave along with a suggestion that it be combined with a gospel choir for the film.

The film, along with others that were mid-way through production at the start of the strikes, was said to be a top priority for the studios to resume production following the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strike. In October 2023, Levy questioned if the film would make its May 2024 release date given the strike was still ongoing at the time, shortly before it was reported that it was likely to be delayed even if filming resumed by the start of 2024. After the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strike on November 9, filming was expected to resume in London within the following two weeks, before Thanksgiving. Reynolds announced that the character Dogpool would appear, played by dog actor Peggy, and the release date was pushed back to July 26, 2024. Filming resumed by November 23. Levy said his time editing and reviewing footage during the strikes allowed him to gain a better understanding of the film, and he was able to return to work feeling focused and not rushed. Reynolds's Wrexham A.F.C. co-chairman Rob McElhenney visited the set to film a cameo appearance as a TVA agent and discuss the football club. His visit was captured by the Welcome to Wrexham (2022–present) documentary series, though his scene was ultimately cut from the film. At the end of December, Bona Film Group signed a deal with TSG Entertainment to invest in a slate of films, including the Deadpool franchise; TSG Entertainment and 20th Century Studios both receive "in association with" credits on the film. Principal photography, which also took place at Bovingdon Film Studios, wrapped on January 24. One day of filming then took place in Los Angeles to film Jon Favreau's appearance as Happy Hogan, reprising his role from previous MCU films, and to film the opening dance sequence with choreographer Nick Pauley. A United States Copyright Office filing for the film indicated that some filming occurred in Vancouver as well.

Post-production

The film's copyright filing in February 2024 confirmed Garner's role and revealed Corrin to be playing Cassandra Nova, the twin sister of Charles Xavier. The writers initially chose the comic book character Mephisto, whose introduction to the MCU had been the subject of fan speculation, as the main antagonist. This changed when Jackman suggested using Cassandra due to Wolverine's relationship with Xavier. A series of trailers were released in the following months, revealing more character details: Macfadyen as TVA agent Mr. Paradox; Randal Reeder and Lewis Tan reprising their respective roles as Buck and Rusty / Shatterstar from the previous Deadpool films; the return of Stanford as Pyro and Tyler Mane as Sabretooth from the X-Men films; and the inclusion of the creature Alioth from Loki. Vinnie Jones and Jason Flemyng were asked to reprise their respective X-Men film roles of Cain Marko / Juggernaut and Azazel, but deals could not be agreed upon. Terry Crews had talks about returning as Bedlam from Deadpool 2, but these did not go anywhere.

Dean Zimmerman, a frequent collaborator with Levy, edited the film with Shane Reid. Levy said they were busy finishing it at the end of April 2024. Early screenings took place by then, with high test scores being given to both Deadpool and Wolverine as well as their chemistry. The ending originally immediately revealed that Deadpool and Wolverine had survived their ordeal, until Reynolds's wife Blake Lively suggested their fate be left unknown for a moment to add suspense. The updated scene, including Pardox's impassioned speech about the heroes' seeming sacrifice, was filmed during a day-and-a-half of reshoots. Levy said Lively's suggestion made the ending "so much more satisfying". Lively and some of her and Reynolds's children have voice cameos as variants of Deadpool, which Levy attributed to them being available for recording. The Adam Project co-star Walker Scobell was originally set to voice the variant Kidpool, but during production his voice changed too much due to puberty and he was replaced by Reynolds's daughter Inez, with Scobell instead voicing an unseen Deadpool variant who yells "Go back to Canada, asshole" in a scene that was cut from the film. Reynolds originally provided the voice for the variant Cowboypool before Matthew McConaughey agreed to voice the character. Jokes about the cast were cleared with them before inclusion, including a scripted joke about Garner's divorce with Ben Affleck and an improvised joke about Jackman's divorce. Post-production was completed on June 19. Despite the multiverse story and connections to other projects, Levy did not expect audiences to do homework before watching the film and intended for it to be an entertaining experience on its own. Reynolds said they did not want to just set-up future projects and Marvel never pressured them into doing so, only asking them to make "one really satisfying self-contained story".

Music

Rob Simonsen was hired to compose the score by mid-July 2023. He previously worked with Levy on The Adam Project and the fourth season of Stranger Things. A soundtrack album for the film was released digitally by Hollywood Records on July 24, 2024, with a physical release on July 26. It includes 17 songs featured in, or inspired by, the film along with "LFG" which is Simonsen's main theme for Deadpool & Wolverine. An album featuring Simonsen's score was released digitally on July 24 with a regular version and a deluxe edition, the latter also including the songs from the soundtrack album. An EP, titled Deadpool & Wolverine: Madonna's "Like a Prayer" EP, featuring "Like a Prayer" by Madonna as well as remixed versions of the song featured in the film, was released by Warner Records on August 9.

Marketing

A teaser trailer was released during Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024. Nick Romano from Entertainment Weekly said it confirmed the film's R rating and the fact that Deadpool would be "infiltrating" the MCU. Austin Goslin of Polygon also highlighted the use of MCU elements and questioned whether Reynolds was playing the same version of Deadpool as he did in the previous films. Wired's Angela Wattercutter noted a sexually explicit pegging joke, a first for the MCU, and speculated about queer themes that the film could explore further than previous MCU projects. The trailer's inclusion of the Secret Wars (2015) #5 comic book issue was also discussed, given that Marvel Studios had announced the film Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). Shortly after the trailer's premiere, Jackman posted a tongue-in-cheek jab at Reynolds with a modified logo displaying "Wolverine & Asshole". The trailer had 365 million global views in its first 24 hours, including the 123 million Super Bowl viewers who saw a 30-second version, surpassing No Way Home's record (355.5 million views) to become the most-viewed trailer in that time period. Reynolds and Jackman were presented with Guinness World Records certificates commemorating the achievement during an interview on ITV's This Morning.

A "silence your phones" public service announcement (PSA) with Deadpool and Wolverine opened Disney's presentation at CinemaCon in April 2024, during which Feige and Levy debuted nine minutes of footage from the film. The Hollywood Reporter said this "drew the biggest laughter" of all the presentations. It included repurposed Thor: The Dark World (2013) footage of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, who is mourning the supposed death of Deadpool rather than Loki as in that film. The PSA was later released publicly. An official trailer set to "Like a Prayer" by Madonna debuted on April 22. Another trailer, released on May 20, announced ticket pre-sales. It included a QR code that led to a video of Reynolds reading a disclaimer for the film. At the end of May, a special popcorn bucket for the theatrical release was revealed, after Feige had said it would be "intentionally crude and lewd". This was inspired by the viral popcorn bucket for Dune: Part Two (2024). The bucket is shaped like Wolverine's head with a "comically oversized" mouth for the popcorn or other snacks. A video reveal, set to the "Also sprach Zarathustra" fanfare which was famously used in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), shows Deadpool caressing the bucket as popcorn falls into its mouth and butter drips down its nose.

A teaser released in early June revealed that the character Ladypool would appear, prompting speculation about who played the role, subsequently revealed to be Lively. Later that month, Reynolds appeared as Deadpool in a "typically irreverent video" at CineEurope to introduce 12 minutes of footage from the film. The cast went on a global marketing tour starting in early July, stopping at: Shanghai, where Reynolds, Jackman, and Levy attended a fan event to screen 35 minutes of the film; Seoul, where the actors appeared at the 2024 Waterbomb festival; Berlin, where the trio were joined by Corrin and attended the UEFA Euro 2024 quarterfinals match between Netherlands and Turkey; London, where the four actors and Levy were joined by Delaney, dog actor Peggy, and executive producers Louis D'Esposito and Wendy Jacobson; and Rio de Janeiro, where they visited Maracanã Stadium. Coinciding with the London visit, United Kingdom music and entertainment retailer HMV temporarily altered their logo at one of their stores to feature Dogpool instead of the dog Nipper.

Release

Theatrical

Deadpool & Wolverine premiered at the David H. Koch Theater in New York City on July 22, 2024. It was released in France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, and Japan on July 24; in Spain, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Australia on July 25; and in the United States and China on July 26, in IMAX, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, Cinemark XD, and other premium large formats (PLFs). The film was originally announced with a release date of September 6, 2024, before it was pushed back to November 8 to accommodate other MCU film delays. Its release was then moved forward to May 3 of that year when Disney adjusted its release calendar due to the WGA strike, before settling on the July 2024 date after the SAG-AFTRA strike ended. The film is part of Phase Five of the MCU. The Motion Picture Association gave it an R rating, a first for the MCU. In August, Levy said there would not be a director's cut because the theatrical version was exactly the film he wanted to make. Reynolds said he previously discussed a director's cut with Levy, who refused.

Home media

The film was released for digital download on October 1, 2024, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on October 22. The home media releases include deleted scenes, a gag reel, commentary by Levy and Reynolds, and featurettes focused on the "Like a Prayer" fight scene, the major cameos, Jackman's return as Wolverine, and a tribute to production designer Ray Chan following his death in April 2024. Deadpool & Wolverine had the biggest first week on U.S. digital platforms for an R-rated film, surpassing previous record holder John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023). Deadpool & Wolverine was released on Disney+ on November 12. Disney said it had 19.4 million global views in its first six days on the platform, making it the most-watched live-action film on Disney+ since the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in early 2023. Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, said it was the most-streamed film in its first two weeks on Disney+ with 1.34 billion minutes in its first week and 586 million minutes in its second.

Reception

Box office

Deadpool & Wolverine grossed $636.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $701.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.338 billion. The film surpassed Joker (2019) to become the highest grossing R-rated film of all time, doing so in 23 days. It also became the fifth-highest grossing MCU film and the 20th-highest-grossing film of all time during its release. Deadline Hollywood calculated a net profit of $400 million, the third-highest for a 2024 film, accounting for the reported $200 million production budget, marketing costs, and other expenses against box office grosses, television and streaming, and home media revenues. Based on the $429 million net budget, Caroline Reid at Forbes estimated a box office profit of $241 million. This did not take into account marketing costs or revenues from streaming, home media, and merchandise.

Fandango said ticket pre-sales for the film were the site's best for 2024 and any R-rated film, while AMC Theatres said 200,000 people bought first-day tickets which was the most sales for any R-rated film at the theater chain. Pamela McClintock of The Hollywood Reporter predicted the film would debut to more than $100 million, something no 2024 film release had done by late May. Tracking services projected it would open between $160–165 million in the U.S. and Canada, and between $340–360 million worldwide. The latter took into consideration substantial walk-up business observed from Latino and Hispanic moviegoers for recent films.

On opening day in the U.S. and Canada, Deadpool & Wolverine made $96 million including $38.5 million from Thursday night previews. Both amounts were records for an R-rated film. The film exceeded predictions for its opening weekend, grossing $211.4 million in the U.S. and Canada and $444.6 million worldwide. That gave it the biggest opening of an R-rated film ever and the biggest opening of 2024, and was also the sixth-biggest opening ever for the U.S. and Canada. The film recovered its reported production budget in just two days. After three days of release, it became the highest-grossing R-rated Disney film, surpassing the studio's previous record which was set by Pretty Woman in 1990. During the following week, it set the record for an R-rated film on a Monday with $24.4 million, on a Tuesday with $25.3 million, on a Wednesday with $19.3 million, and on a non-preview Thursday with $18 million. The film remained in first place for the U.S. and Canada in its second weekend with $97 million. It crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide in its third weekend, becoming the second film to do so in 2024. Also during the third weekend, Reynolds's Deadpool & Wolverine and Lively's It Ends With Us occupied the number one and two spots at the box office, a feat that had not been accomplished for a married Hollywood couple since Bruce Willis's Die Hard 2 and Demi Moore's Ghost in 1990. The film was surpassed at the U.S. and Canada box office in its fourth weekend by newcomer Alien: Romulus, but returned to the number one spot for its fifth and sixth weekends. It remained in the U.S. and Canada top ten through eleven weeks, ending its run as the second-highest-grossing film of 2024 behind Inside Out 2, and 20th-highest-grossing film worldwide. Its highest grossing territories outside the U.S. and Canada were the United Kingdom ($73.8M), China ($59.7M), Australia ($44.5M), Mexico ($43.5M), and Germany ($40.7M).

Critical response

Critics praised the performances of Reynolds and Jackman as well as the humor, but were less positive about the film overall. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 77% of 421 critics gave it a positive review and an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Ryan Reynolds makes himself at home in the MCU with acerbic wit while Hugh Jackman provides an Adamantium backbone to proceedings in Deadpool & Wolverine, an irreverent romp with a surprising soft spot for a bygone era of superhero movies." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 56 out of 100 based on 58 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, the same as the previous Deadpool films. Those surveyed by PostTrak gave it a 96% positive score and 85% said they would definitely recommend it.

Deadline Hollywood's Pete Hammond said the titular team-up "works beyond your wildest screen-team dreams" and felt Jackman gave his best performance as Wolverine in the film. Olly Richards at Empire also praised Jackman's performance, saying he elevated the material in key moments and "in a film with a million dick jokes, he manages to deliver a character arc that's genuinely moving". Richards was positive about the focus on the title characters and the audience's immediate experience over wider MCU set-up. Reviewing the film for RogerEbert.com, Matt Zoller Seitz gave it two-and-a-half stars out of four. He said Jackman and Reynolds both gave moving performances as "broken, abandoned men", and he especially cared about their characters during the climactic "pathos firehose". Ross Bonaime at Collider said Deadpool was able to live up to his full potential with his integration into the MCU, while Jackman was able to be even more brutal than in previous films as Wolverine. At the Associated Press, Krysta Fauria found the homoerotic yet hate-filled central relationship to be enticing and compelling. San Francisco Chronicle critic Mick LaSalle commended the contrast between Jackman's serious performance and Reynolds's humor.

Dominic Baez at The Seattle Times said the film was "pure, unadulterated fun" and a love letter to Marvel fans. CNN's Brian Lowry said it showcased Marvel Studios's willingness to partake in self-deprecation, while The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney said the meta jokes were "dialed up to radioactive levels". He felt the humor was the "sturdiest" part of the film. Fauria said the increased focus on self-aware genre criticism made the film an improvement over its predecessors. The Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw said Reynolds was "often funny, sometimes very funny, periodically entirely unbearable" and had lived up to Deadpool's self-claimed title of "Marvel Jesus" by "repositioning [the MCU] as gag material and keep[ing] the whole thing ticking over". Nick Schager of The Daily Beast praised the film as "the shot in the arm—and kick to the nuts—that's urgently needed" in the MCU, and was impressed with how the R-rated Deadpool had been integrated with the PG-13 franchise. Writing for Vanity Fair, Richard Lawson similarly felt it "somehow kind of works", despite the humor focusing on entertainment industry details. Katie Walsh at the Los Angeles Times disagreed with this point, saying the "quips, references, fourth-wall breaking, celebrity gossip, Hollywood inside baseball, jabs at other film studios, [and] ironically retro needle drops" were only for fans and the "terminally online". Tom Jorgensen of IGN found it to be hilarious and highlighted the jokes related to the MCU and Feige, but felt there were some "pulled punches" compared to some of the "heinous on-screen acts" in the previous films. In contrast, Donald Clarke for The Irish Times was critical of the juvenile humor and scored the film just one star out of five.

Documentary special

In February 2021, the documentary series Marvel Studios: Assembled was announced. The special on this film, "The Making of Deadpool & Wolverine", was released on Disney+ on November 12, 2024.

Future

With the film's release, Reynolds said he was unsure when he would next portray Deadpool. Discussing the flashforward that Deadpool sees in the film, in which a dying Deadpool is held by a crying Thor, Reese said it may be ignored moving forward but he expected that the MCU would consider it canonical and work towards that scene appearing in full during a future project. In November 2024, Feige said the studio was looking for ways to include Deadpool and Wolverine in future MCU projects. The next month, Reynolds said he had some ideas for the character's future. He was interested in Deadpool appearing alongside the Avengers or the X-Men, but he did not want the character to join either of those teams because that would be "the end of his journey". He felt Deadpool worked well in a supporting or ensemble role and wanted to keep the character paired with Wolverine for future appearances. Reynolds was reluctant to feature Deadpool as the lead character of a film again, saying that "works best if you take everything away from him and put his back against the wall. I can't really do that again. A fourth time feels a little iterative and redundant." In April 2025, Reynolds said he was writing an ensemble project, which was revealed the following month to be various script treatments for an ensemble film centered on three or four X-Men characters alongside Deadpool. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Reynolds was working independently of Marvel Studios to figure out the film's concept before taking his ideas to them. In July 2025, Tatiana Siegel of Variety reported that Marvel Studios executives did not feel a sense of urgency in making a fourth Deadpool film amidst a wider "pullback" of the superhero genre.

In January 2026, Kim Masters of Puck reported that Reynolds was focused on making the next Deadpool film. In April, Reynolds said he had "some stuff kind of written" and reiterated that he wanted Deadpool to be a supporting character and part of a group of characters for the next film. Reynolds stated in July that another Deadpool film would be happening "eventually". He felt there were some "deep cuts" from the comics that had not been explored in the previous films, specifically highlighting the comics written by Fabian Nicieza and Gerry Duggan. Justin Kroll at Deadline Hollywood reported that the next Deadpool film was in early development and had no writer or director attached.