Parents' Guide to Deadpool & Wolverine

Reynolds and Jackman make this Marvel superhero installment a fun, cameo-filled, self-reflective buddy film. After two previous Deadpool movies featuring funny Wolverine references, this threequel finally delivers the mashup that fans (and Reynolds himself) have been waiting to see. Deadpool & Wolverine is a boisterous, laugh-aloud, self-deprecating blockbuster that manages to balance its two leads' opposites-attract chemistry. Deadpool, who never takes anything seriously, and Wolverine, who takes everything seriously, aren't natural partners, but they manage to work beautifully together, even if they have to bloody each other more than once to get to a point where they can "coexist" together. The hand-to-hand combat between the two self-healing superheroes is simultaneously intense and comedic. Behind Deadpool's mask and Wolverine's scowl is the sense that these two love working together, and that makes the movie that much more fun. Macfadyen is well-cast as an uptight and ruthlessly ambitious TVA agent, and Corrin is fabulously cold and cruel as Cassandra Nova, Charles Xavier's evil twin (it doesn't hurt that she could've easily played a younger James McAvoy's sister) and ruler of the post-apocalyptic, Mad Max-like void.

Director Shawn Levy, working from a screenplay he co-wrote with Reynolds, Zeb Wells, and Deadpool veterans Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, pays homage not only to Marvel's X-Men acquisitions post-Fox merger, but to all the superhero properties it owns. There's a lot of fan service here to audiences who loved the Fox-owned parts of the MCU, particularly the comic versions. Get ready for several big-name cameos and jokes that are both professional and personal (real-life relationships and partners are referenced, including Reynolds' wife, Blake Lively, and Jackman's divorce from Deborah-Lee Furness, after 27 years). Deadpool and Wolverine share the screen with their A-list supporting players, and there's an extended fight sequence in which each of those other familiar characters gets a moment to shine. Deadpool's circle of friends isn't as central to this installment, but don't worry: Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), Dopinder (Karan Soni), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), and Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) do make a few appearances, although it's a shame that favorite X-Force member Domino (Zazie Beetz) isn't included. The soundtrack includes 1980s classics, culminating with a climactic use of Madonna's "Like a Prayer." It's a brilliant use of the iconic song, perfectly matching the stakes of the sequence. If this is the last Deadpool movie, Reynolds and Wolverine have epically paid tribute to their characters—and their fans.