Deadpool & Wolverine

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Deadpool & Wolverine
• a review of Deadpool & Wolverine completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 30 July 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), always wanted to matter. He wanted to be someone. He wanted to be worthy of his ex- girlfriend and, somehow, he always fell painfully short. He is working as a used car salesman and pretending to be happy with his current life when he is approached by Mister Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), an agent at the TVA (Time Variance Authority). Deadpool believes that his dreams are about to come true, and that he is actually being recognised for his ability to make a difference. Instead, it turns out that he is being recruited by the TVA because they think that he will make the immoral choice of choosing to live while his universe disintegrates and everyone he loves or cares for dies. Deadpool learns that it was due to the heroic death of ‘anchor being’ Logan, aka Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), that a hole has been ripped in the timeline and is causing his universe to unravel. Believing that if he can find another Wolverine to take the place of the one his world lost, he can save his universe and make things right again. However, Mister Paradox, who has taken control of a time variation machine, has other plans and when Deadpool and Wolverine show up at the TVA he casts them to a forgotten realm at the end of time where other superheroes and villains have also been banished. Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), an evil and dangerous mutant with merciless and extraordinary powers, has risen to become leader of this desolate realm. Determined to save his friends and his world before Mister Paradox can destroy it, or Cassandra can destroy them, Deadpool and Wolverine will need the help of an unlikely alliance as they will stop at nothing to ensure that they make it back and that they make a difference.

Alcoholism; Guilt: Violence as a means to solve conflict; Mid-life crisis; Feelings of regret, loneliness, and worthlessness; Being ignored, used or disregarded; Desire for power and world domination.

There is frequent, graphic, violence in this movie, including:

• Deadpool gets enraged while exhuming Wolverine’s body from a grave. He breaks the shovel, bashing it against the ground.
• Deadpool dismembers Wolverine’s corpse and uses the bones to smash through skulls, stab into chests and impale eyes. Wolverine’s disembodied skull is kicked and teeth fly out of his mouth as the head flies through the air. Blood and skin literally fly off the bodies of the men whom Deadpool is attacking. A skull is bashed in, characters are stabbed in the neck, chest and groin, and a head is ripped off a character’s neck.
• A character is shot in the head.
• A character says that he prays: “fire finishes the job that God never had the nuts to do”.
• There is a reference to a character wanting to commit suicide.
• Deadpool’s ex-girlfriend tells him that her new boyfriend hasn’t gotten her shot yet.
• An assassin rips the hair off a character’s head and then abducts him. The man is so terrified that he apparently soils himself.
• Wolverine is stabbed.
• Deadpool is thrown, pushed, stabbed, shoved and repeatedly threatened as he journeys through to different timelines.
• A character is stabbed through his butt, with blades emerging from his private parts.
• A character takes a sword blow to the head while another character is shot in the chest.
• A character smashes another’s head and Wolverine stabs Deadpool in the head.
• Reference is made to one Wolverine getting himself killed and another letting down an entire world.
• Wolverine and Deadpool are both stabbed, with what appears to be a fiery poker, and sent to another realm.
• A man is stabbed through the chest and genitals. Characters are often stabbed or impaled in the genitals.
• Deadpool and Wolverine slash, hit, shoot and stab each other. Wolverine takes a sword through the neck and is impaled by three swords while Deadpool is stabbed through the chest and about to have his head ripped off.
• A superhero character blasts into flame and shoots at another character with fire. He loses power, lands crotch first on the side of a sign and falls down, smashing his neck against a metal beam and landing on his head.
• A character’s head is chopped off.
• A character has the skin ripped from his body. He stands momentarily as a pile of bloody bones before collapsing onto the ground in a big, nasty mess.
• Wolverine is blasted underground and dragged under the dirt.
• Cassandra puts her fingers through Deadpool’s skull.
• Wolverine and Deadpool fight in a car, blood spurts over both of them as Deadpool is repeatedly bashed headfirst into the console. They stab each other, are both shoved and thrown through the car roof, windows and windscreen, Wolverine bends Deadpool’s arm back until it breaks, and Deadpool strangles Wolverine with a seat belt. The pair continue to stab and bash each other, spraying blood all over the inside and outside of the car, until they both collapse from the effort; Wolverine looks like he is unable to move and Deadpool is wrapped like a mummy in the seatbelts.
• Wolverine blames himself for the fact that his friends were killed as he wasn’t there to protect them.
• A rocket launcher is used to blast through a gate. A fight scene ensues with multiple characters attempting to kill each other with, knives, guns, swords etc.
• Magical cards are thrown, killing and exploding men.
• A creepy man with a snake-like tongue is strangled.
• Wolverine tells how he wanted to stop killing in revenge but that he couldn’t. That he continued to kill people, including the innocent.
• A character says: “I am going to boil your brains.”
• Cassandra is repeatedly shot in the chest.
• Cassandra says that she killed an amateur magician and brags about ‘wearing his skin for four days’.
• Multiple characters are stabbed through the chest and through the back during an epic fight in a wasteland.
• An alternate version of Deadpool is repeatedly shot in the back and chest. Deadpool uses him as a human shield, blood gushes out of the alternate Deadpool’s mouth as he attempts to confess that he doesn’t regenerate. Deadpool promises him that he will be Ok as a bullet shoots the alternate Deadpool in the head and his brains are blasted all over Deadpool’s face. Deadpool tries to do CPR as blood gushes from the numerous bullet holes and spurts from the severed neck arteries that were once attached to his head.
• Deadpool and Wolverine must fight an army of other Deadpools in order to access a subway system. They stab, kick, impale, blast and bludgeon their way through, with severed body parts falling onto the ground. Blood splatters everywhere as numerous characters are violently killed on a bus.
• Cassandra tries to control the time machine and is attempting to destroy the universe while Wolverine and Deadpool try to stop her. All three look like they are being torn apart by the pull of the energy surrounding the machine. Cassandra seems to explode in the process, while both Wolverine and Deadpool also disappear and are initially thought to be dead but later appear fine.
• Mention is made of someone wanting to urinate on another character’s barbequed corpse.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• Deadpool is seen chatting to what remains of Wolverine’s bloody corpse. He makes the mouth move in a grotesque manner and later dismembers the body to use as weapons to attack a group of assassins. The violence is extremely graphic and the scenes are likely to be frightening for many children.
• There is a smoky, black monster with glowing eyes that looks like a cross between a violent storm front and an evil snake. It devours any human in its path. The people are terrified by the mere mention of this creature and, as it approaches, many try to flee but for most there is no escape.
• There is a devil monster with a tail working for Cassandra, along with numerous other villainous-looking characters. Many of whom are likely to be frightening for young children.
• A helmet is placed on Cassandra’s head and weird black lines begin to spread over her skin. The scene is intense and graphic as she bleeds from gunshot wounds and there is some debate about whether to let her live or die. The scene is likely to be disturbing to some children.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Cassandra often puts her fingers through the skulls of other people. Her fingers come out of their noses and eyes, and her hand can be seen moving about under their skin as she causes pain, sometimes death, and tries to understand their thoughts. The scenes are creepy and disturbing and likely to be upsetting to many children.
• Deadpool comes across an alternate version of Wolverine nailed to a cross in a sea of red, severed heads. Deadpool must wade through the mass of skulls to get close to Wolverine. The scene is dark and grotesque and likely to be upsetting for some children.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• The Honda Odyssey is taken for a test drive and its features highlighted.
• Kia Carnival is used and mentioned by name.
• Spam is eaten and the cans are clearly displayed.
• Disney, Fox and Marvel are repeatedly mentioned. There is a ruined 20th Century Fox sign partially buried in the ground.
• Deadpool performs a Back Street Boys dance sequence to one of their songs while killing numerous characters.
• Wolverine drinks a bottle of Jim Bean.
• The Avengers and the X-Men are repeatedly referred to.
• The Minions are referenced, as is the movie, The Proposal.
• The Amazon Fire Phone is mentioned.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Deadpool does some sexy dance moves with a hip thrust and then grabs his crotch.
• Deadpool notes that he is: “soaking wet right now” and that he “detects a whiff of necrophilia.”
• A character describes “smashterbating”, wherein hulk hands ravage and pound the ‘midsection’.
• Deadpool tells a young child that he doesn’t have a lot of vaginal sex.
• A man’s penis is referred to as his Van Johnson.
• There is reference to menopause.
• Deadpool mentions kissing a bunch of men and tells them he has, “never been a natural bottom”.
• While Deadpool is being fitted for his costume, the tailor repeatedly grabs his crotch and touches his butt. Deadpool tells Mister Paradox that his tailor is a predator but that he appreciates that the suits doesn’t give him “camel toe”.
• Deadpool tells a man that he can see his “pants are getting tight”, in reference to how hot he looks in his new costume.
• A character asks Deadpool and Wolverine if they are “going to fuck or fight?”
• Deadpool says: “Get your special socks out nerds. It’s going to get good.”
• A character says: “It’s like Pinocchio stabbed his face in my ass.”
• Deadpool lands on Wolverine and tells him that before he can get off him he must get his knife out of his buttocks.
• Deadpool and Wolverine are tied up and pressed closely together in a net. Wolverine tells Deadpool: “not all of you was asleep.”
• Deadpool tells a character: “Your fingers are inside me but not in a good way.”
• A character mentions that he has had several STD’s.
• Deadpool admits: “They don’t call me Truthful Timmy, the blowjob queen of Saskatoon.”
• A man in a Deadpool costume has added additional material to his crotch area, substantially enlarging the groin.
• Mention is made to a stripper and how Wolverine couldn’t even save her.
• A character says: “When I want your opinion I will take Wolverine’s dick out of your mouth.”
• Deadpool asks Wolverine: “What is the wind resistance on your blowjob handles?”
• Deadpool tells a bare-chested Wolverine to, “put your greasy tits away you slut.”
• When a character says, “I want to show you something huge”, Deadpool responds with: “That’s what camp master Kevin used to say.”
• A character is described as shaking like an angry vibrator.
• Deadpool says: “I didn’t know my daddy, but I shot out of his dick.”
• A character describes an animal by saying: “It’s like an armadillo fucked a gremlin in a bed of gonorrhoea.”

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• A man bares his chest, showing that both nipples have been pierced. The two hoops attached to the nipples are connected to a chain that appears to be attached to his penis. He encourages another character to gently tug the chain and reacts to the touch.
• There is a creepy, deranged-looking dog with a very long tongue that hangs out the side of its mouth. It is always trying to get its tongue into and around Deadpool’s mouth.
• Wolverine is shown with a bare chest and there is a close up of his finely chiselled abs. A man is later shown ogling him.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• Wolverine is seen drinking at a bar. He stands up and then drinks an entire bottle of whiskey.
• Wolverine drinks hand sanitiser and rubbing alcohol shots.
• Wolverine gargles with alcohol.
• A character asks Deadpool for cocaine, calling it numerous other things in the process.
• Wolverine shares a story about how he was so drunk that he stumbled home only to find everyone he loved had been killed.
• Deadpool says they are prohibited from using cocaine on camera.
• Wolverine drinks heavily on multiple occasions.

Coarse language

There is extremely frequent coarse language in this movie, including:

• Fuck, Fucker, fucking shit, fucking suck, get fucked, fuck off, fucky-fucky, go fuck yourself, dumb fuck
• Bitch, Son of a bitch, sons of fucking bitches
• Stupid
• Hell
• God damn it
• Dumbass
• Suck it
• Screwed up
• Shit, shit head, shit talker, shit faced
• Sack of nuts
• You ape!
• Ass, Asshole
• Dick for brains, needle dick
• Jackass
• Moron
• Slut
• Prick
• Piss off
• You drooling boob
• Wolverine is called a: “hairy, thunder cunt from down under” and “whiskey dick of the claws”
• Suck a cock
• Some people may find it offensive that Deadpool repeatedly refers to himself as “Marvel Jesus”.

In a nutshell

Deadpool & Wolverine is an action packed adventure-comedy based on the popular comic book characters with the same names. The film is the latest release from Marvel studios and boasts an all-star cast with numerous cameo appearances, excellent special effects and a couple of well-timed and choreographed pop music fight scenes. Due to the frequent use of extremely coarse language, the gory violence and the explicit sexual references, this film is best suited to adult audiences.

The main messages from this movie are that everyone needs to feel important somehow; that there are many ways to go about proving your worth; and that sometimes the people you save wind up saving you right back.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Teamwork
• Courage
• Sacrifice
• Determination
• Compassion.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Using violence as a way to solve problems.
• Blaming yourself for things beyond your control.
• Using alcohol to escape your reality.
• Lying or deceiving others.
• Pursuing power (or your own goals) with no thought as to the consequences of how you go about achieving them.