Marvel Studios Introduces Disney’s Greatest Love Story with First ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Teaser Trailer

 

Sure, the Super Bowl ended in fairytale fashion with Travis Kelce celebrating a hard-fought gridiron victory by smooching his pop megastar girlfriend Taylor Swift, but let’s be real: The night’s true power couple was a cantankerous clawed Canadian and a foul-mouthed mercenary with a thing for Crocs and unicorns.

Yep, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool is back … and this time, he’s very much in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The trailer for the third Deadpool film – now named Deadpool & Wolverine – brings us up to speed on Wade Wilson, whose last film was somehow six years ago. When agents from Loki’s infamous Time Variance Authority come knocking at his door, DP is pulled into a self-aware adventure that promises to change the MCU as we know it … or just s*** all over it, I’m not quite sure yet. 

But what I am sure of is that we’ll get at least one scene featuring Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in his most comic book-accurate costume to date, plenty of meta humor, and more than a few familiar faces popping in. Hell, they brough back Pyro from the original 2000s X-Men trilogy, and if the rumors are true, he’s not the only surprise character from the 20^th Century Fox Marvel films who will be making their return. I can’t wait. This thing is gonna be BONKERS. 

Directed by Shawn Levy, Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters July 26. Watch the teaser below!

P.S., was I hallucinating, or was there a trailer for a Twister sequel during the Super Bowl? What a time to be alive.

Hugh Jackman Takes Final Bow as Wolverine in Phenomenal 'Logan'

Let's be honest with ourselves: The X-Men movie franchise is a disaster. Yes, individually, it does contain some great films (X2: X-Men United and the hilarious Deadpool, for example), but by and large, it serves as an excellent example of how not to do a sprawling superhero series. Continuity is all over the place, the timelines (pick one) don't add up and the less said about how certain characters are treated, the better. I'm so, so sorry, Jubilee.

But that said, we love these movies in the grand scheme of things, and so when we learned that Logan would be Hugh Jackman and Sir Patrick Stewart's last outing as Wolverine and Professor Charles Xavier, respectively, we couldn't help but be invested.

But man, does that investment pay off.

With a hard-R rating and the kind of wanton violence that would make Wade Wilson blush beneath his crimson mask, Logan is not only one of the best superhero movies released in recent years, but it's a damn fine film. Period.

Following Deadpool's surprise success as a blood-drenched comic book romp early last year, director James Mangold (who also directed 2013's The Wolverine) lets the iconic Canuck use his claws. A lot. The violence during the title character's berserker barrages during Logan  makes the action sequences in the previous X-Men films seem downright childish by comparison.

But Wolverine isn't the only one doing the bloodletting in this film. As Logan serves as protector of an aged, ill Professor X (played marvelously by Stewart, who made me feel every possible emotion during this movie), he encounters a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen), who displays some traits and, well, claws, that are curiously similar to his own. Of course, comic book readers figured out who she is during the first trailer, but since her identity is a bit of a spoiler for the uninitiated, I'll simply state that she's a big deal in this movie, and she kicks just as much ass as Wolverine.

Logan's not just about ass-kicking, however, even though it excels at it. Jackman, Stewart and Keen bring to life an off-kilter road trip film that bears more similarities to No Country for Old Men or Mad Max: Fury Road than it does to. say, X-Men: Apocalypse. Heck, there's even some Little Miss Sunshine thrown in there. Not necessarily beholden to the messy continuity of the previous films or engineered to produce sequels, Logan has the creative freedom to slow things down and truly get into the minds of these characters, who find themselves incredibly vulnerable and cast aside in a world where mutants have all but vanished. I'm not certain whether this film  is a follow-up to Days of Future Past or if it exists in some as-yet-unseen alternate timeline, but this standalone story is so engrossing and the characters are so richly drawn that you won't worry about any of those things. Logan is simply a great movie. Superhero or otherwise.

You'll squirm, you'll cheer, you'll laugh and you'll cry. Boy, will you cry. Logan has a lot of competition from other comic book flicks this year, including Spider-Man: Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,  Thor: Ragnarok, Wonder Woman and Justice League, but all of those films will be hard-pressed to match the emotional journey this movie provides. See it, bub.

The New 'Logan' Trailer is Seriously Depressing

Fox's X-Men franchise is all over the place. It's got dizzying highs (Deadpool) dismal lows (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and daunting middles (X-Men: Apocalypse), so it's hard to gauge just what a new entry in the franchise will bring to the table. On March 3, we get Logan, an odd film that will likely be Hugh Jackman and Sir Patrick Stewart's last outing as Wolverine and Professor X. It has the trappings of a road trip movie, with the titular Logan and Chuck Xavier on the move and encountering a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen), who bears a striking resemblance to Wolverine in the "disemboweling people with metal claws" department. In the film, Laura is likely Logan's clone, or at least we can assume that's the case given what's happened in Marvel's comic book universe, where she has taken up the Wolverine mantle after her "father's" death.

Logan seems to be loosely based on Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's Old Man Logan, taking place in a dreary near-future where our favorite adamantium-infused mutant has lost a step in his advancing years. The film evidently makes full use of its R rating, with plenty of bloodshed and an older, decrepit Prof. X that has developed a bit of a potty mouth. It looks like a weird, sad movie, but by all accounts, it could be the satisfying sendoff that both Jackson and Stewart deserve.

Watch the second trailer for Logan below.

Iron Man, Wolverine, Mace Windu and James Bond Rumored for 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

Patton Oswalt's Star Wars Filibuster is so close to being a real thing. Contactmusic.com reports that Robert Downey Jr., Hugh Jackman, Samuel L. Jackson and Daniel Craig will be appearing in J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII. The kicker? They'll be under masks, apparently to avoid any contractual issues with other studios.

Another actor reportedly filming a secret cameo in the forthcoming Star Wars flick is Nick Frost, although Ed from Shaun of the Dead doesn't really fit next to the likes of 007 and Tony Stark in a headline. Still, it's cool to see so many of Hollywood's Star Wars fans getting a chance to roam around in George Lucas' galaxy far, far away.

As for Jackson's involvement, I'm hoping he reprises his role from the prequels, if only to justify my purchase of CyborgMaceWindu.com all those years ago. Who's laughing now, Internet?

Next Wolverine Flick Shoots in 2011

If you saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I’m pretty sure you were disappointed by it. If you weren’t, you really need to stop lying to yourself.

But even if you loathed the film for its poor handling of fan-favorite comic book characters (Deadpool and Gambit, for example) or its vehement disinterest in movie series continuity (that’s Sabretooth?), you should probably be at least a little excited that a sequel is on the way. Hey, at least these movies can’t get any worse. Filmmakers, please don’t mistake that for a challenge.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Christopher McQuarrie (X-Men, Valkyrie) has finished a script based on Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s phenomenal 1982 Wolverine mini-series, which chronicled the clawed Canuck’s adventures in Japan. Hugh Jackman will once again play the title role, and the film is scheduled to begin shooting in January of next year. No director has signed on to the project.

“It’s a beautiful story,” an unnamed source told THR, “and will be very different than the first film.”

Different? It’s already headed in the right direction.