'Deadpool & Wolverine' and the Cringe of 2000s Nostalgia
Did we really have the time of our life, though?
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Yes, I’m back writing about Deadpool & Wolverine this week. A movie that, with every passing day, I like a little bit less. I’ve seen a lot of tweets and comments since the movie dropped, with claims (predominately from men) talking about how it’s an anti-Gen Z movie. Some have said it’s only for the most devout of comic fans. But what I keep going back to — and it’s a tweet I wish I could find so if someone can point to it, let me know — is a comment I heard that it acts as a nostalgic time capsule for 50-year-old men to remind themselves of a universe that wasn’t real but they desperately wish it was. And that doesn’t mean a universe where Jennifer Garner got a string of Elektra movies.
[Note: Spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine will be included.]
Deadpool & Wolverine is fan service, make no mistake. But it’s fan service built for a specific fan. The fan that was scouring AintItCoolNews in the mid-2000s for any minor DC/MCU spoiler, and probably bitching about it didn’t conform to their expectations. So when the title characters team up with Garner’s Elektra, Wesley Snipes’ Blade, and Channing Tatum’s Gambit, I was surprised to hear how much seeming goodwill there was for everyone involved.
