After 2016’s Deadpool became a sizeable hit, Deadpool 2 quickly followed in 2018. Fans needed to wait another six years for a third chapter, though this one offered a much-craved expansion to involve another legendary character whose identity becomes obvious via the title of 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine.

When Wade “Deadpool” Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) seeks a place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), he finds rejection. Dejected, he attempts to embrace a normal life outside of the superhero realm.

Deadpool comes back into the fold when Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen) of the Time Variance Authority (TVA) recruits him to follow his superhero dream if he allows his own world to die. This evolves into an unlikely partnership with an alternate Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) as well as a slew of other surprising heroes.

“Surprising” if you avoided spoilers before you saw D&W, that is. In our hurly-burly always-online world, that likely proved difficult unless you a) actively avoided pre-release promotion and b) ignored social media.

If you go into D&W without foreknowledge of these various unexpected moments, you’ll probably enjoy the film more. However, that doesn’t mean it relies on this factor to succeed.

Yes, I found it fun to encounter one out-of-nowhere character after another when I saw D&W theatrically. The movie continued to entertain on second viewing, though.

Albeit a bit less, as the film’s tendency to throw out bait for MCU buffs can wear a bit thin. At times it feels like D&W should come with the title Fan Service: The Movie, as it can seem to bend over backward to cater to the true diehards in the audience.

This feels like an obstacle for many franchises with strong fan bases. There exists a thin line between gratuitous content that exists solely to satisfy those factions and choices that serve a stronger purpose.

In the case of D&W, matters usually stay on the right side of that line, but boy does the movie teeter at times. It tosses so many cameos and Easter eggs at us that the whole film can feel awfully “inside”.

At least arguably the biggest “fan service” choice of them all works: the appearance of Wolverine. Prior Deadpool flicks used Wolvie and Jackman as snarky points of comedy, so the actual arrival of the character here threatens to come across as nothing more than a cheap way to sell tickets.

However, D&W earns its use of Wolverine. Rather than toss him into Deadpool’s ironic chumbucket, the film plays Logan relentlessly straight.

And the flick works better because of that. D&W gives this Wolverine – one from an alternate universe than the version in 2017’s Logan - a tragic backstory that allows the ever-snarky world of Deadpool some actual drama.

Jackman evokes these moments well. He doesn’t alter the approach he used in prior iterations of Wolverine to suit this flick’s comedic milieu, and as a result, the role breaks through the usual tone and provides even greater impact.

With a family-friendly background in films such as the Night at the Museum flicks, Shawn Levy felt like an odd choice to direct a violent and profane Deadpool flick. Happily, he doesn’t try to tone down the world of Deadpool, so we get the usual over the top elements here.

That doesn’t mean I think Levy became the best person for the job, as I think an edgier director could’ve made a more provocative and challenging film. Nonetheless, Levy doesn’t get in the way of the material or appear to harm it, so I view that as a win.

D&W never offers the most coherent narrative, and it digresses too much of the time. With all that fan service on display, one can’t expect a tight plot.

Still, the movie cranks along at a nice pace. Even when it threatens to falter, the excellent chemistry between Jackman and Reynolds helps to carry the day.

Given that D&W made almost as much as the first two movies combined, maybe the joke that Disney will force Jackman to play Wolverine until he’s 90 might prove true. If the rest of those flicks work as well as this one, I won’t object.

Footnote: expect the usual tag after the conclusion of the end credits.

Deadpool & Wolverine appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The Blu-ray appeared to replicate the source material nicely.

Sharpness remained solid. Virtually no softness materialized, so movie demonstrated positive and definition.

Jagged edges and shimmering failed to occur, and I witnessed no signs of edge enhancement. Print flaws weren’t a factor, so the movie always remained clean and fresh.

Like most modern action movies, D&W went with a stylized palette that favored amber and teal. These choices seemed predictable, but the disc replicated them as intended, and the film didn’t take them to extremes anyway, as the colors stayed reasonably subdued.

Blacks appeared deep and dark, while shadows displayed good clarity and smoothness. Overall, I liked this consistently positive presentation.

With its action orientation, the DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack of D&W also worked well, as the movie boasted a wide and involving soundfield. This showed up during scenes both loud and quiet.

During the latter, music offered nice stereo presence. Various environmental elements displayed quality localization and involvement.

The bigger sequences added more pizzazz to the package. These used all the channels in a satisfying manner, as the action scenes created a lot of useful material. From start to finish, the mix used the speakers in a way that gave real life to the proceedings.

In addition, audio quality was strong. Music appeared vivid and full, with crisp highs and rich lows.

Speech was concise and natural, so no issues affected the lines. Effects appeared to be accurate and lively.

Those elements lacked distortion and they boasted nice low-end during their louder moments. Overall, I felt pleased with the mix.

As we move to extras, we open with an audio commentary from co-writer/director Shawn Levy and co-writer/actor Ryan Reynolds. Both offer a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, connections to other Marvel movies and Easter eggs, cast and performances, sets and locations, music and sound design, costumes, editing, stunts and action, and related topics.

With a demeanor akin to an over-eager camp counselor, the ever-sunny Levy ensures that we get a lot of happy talk here. However, he and Reynolds deliver more than enough good insights to overcome this tendency, so this becomes a pretty solid chat.

When we shift to video programs, Finding Madonna lasts six minutes, 23 seconds. It provides notes from Levy, Reynolds, 2nd unit director George Cottle, executive producers Wendy Jacobson and Mary McLaglen, SFX chargehand Danny Murphy, editors Shane Reid and Dean Zimmerman, and actor Hugh Jackman.

“Madonna” shows how the film executed its major “one-shot” action sequence. Despite some happy talk, the featurette nonetgeless delivers some good info.

Practical Approach goes for nine minutes, 44 seconds. This one offers remarks from Levy, Reynolds, Jacobson, production designer Ray Chan and actor Amanda Corrin.

Here we get notes about sets and locations as well as a tribute to Chan, who died before the film’s release. It mixes those two sides reasonably well.

Next comes Loose Ends. During this 10-minute, 11-second reel, we hear from Reynolds, Levy, Jacobson, and actors Jennifer Garner, Wesley Snipes, Channing Tatum, and Dafne Keen.

“Ends” examines the movie’s returning hero characters. We get a good look at these semi-cameos.

Wolverine occupies six minutes, nine seconds. It boasts statements from Reynolds, Levy, Jackman, Jacobson, Reid, Zimmerman, producer Kevin Feige and co-writer Zeb Wells.

The segment looks at the return of Wolverine and his depiction in D&W. Like the others, it doesn’t dazzle but it works fine.

Within Deadpool’s Fun Sack 3, we get three promotional clips: “Dr. Deadpool” (1:20), “Product Review” (1:06) and “Wade Is Back” (0:55). As always, they offer irreverent and amusing ads.

A Gag Reel goes for four minutes, 39 seconds and shows some of the standard goofs and giggles. However, it comes with plenty of alternate lines as well, and these make it enjoyable.

Finally, three Deleted Scenes occupy a total of two minutes, 17 seconds. We get “Elevator Ride” (0:48), “Do Nothing” (0:40) and “Daddy’s In Love” (0:49).

Like one might infer from those brief running times, we don’t get much substance from these scenes, as they lean toward quick exposition, mainly related to the TVA. None seem essential but they’re worth a look.

Though it can rely too much on cameos and fan service, Deadpool & Wolverine largely becomes a frisky and fun comic book adventure. With a nice spark between its two leads, it entertains well. The Blu-ray comes with excellent picture and audio as well as a mix of bonus features. D&W continues the franchise on a positive note.