AMAN WALKS into a bar… Classic joke set-up, right? Except, this isn’t a joke you’ve heard before. For one thing, it’s not a man but an X-Man who’s nursing his drink, and a resurrected X-Man at that —clawed berserker Wolverine. For another, he’s about to encounter the most chaotic force in comic-book history —red-suited meta-imp Deadpool. And this joke is the biggest, wildest one you’ll ever experience, spilling out from that bar into the entire MCU. Yes, Ryan Reynolds is no longer just the Merc with a Mouth. He’s the Merc with a Multiverse. Hold onto… well, everything.
In 2024, superhero fatigue is real. There’s spandex everywhere. Multiple Batmen. Dark rumours of a Morbius 2. You’d be forgiven for wanting to lie down and take a super-nap. But Deadpool & Wolverine, the only Marvel film out this year, looks set to deliver something refreshing. Namely, an R-rated, piss-taking, cameo-jammed deconstruction of all things Marvel, as well as a bromance between two iconic characters who haven’t crossed paths since 2009’s dire X-Men Origins: Wolverine (expect lots of quips about that film). There will also be a big, flappy dog-tongue, thanks to our cover star Peggy, unleashing woofy havoc as Dogpool. You didn’t get that in Avengers: Endgame.
Our huge cover story by Chris Hewitt, starting on page 48, sees Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and more revealing what awaits. Elsewhere, we talk Bad Boys: Ride Or Die with the naughty cops themselves, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. And we travel to Los Angeles to spend a day with Lily Gladstone, to see what she’s up to post-Killers Of The Flower Moon.