With a line like ” “Fox killed him, Disney brought him back. They’re gonna make him do this till he’s ninety.”….. the self-awareness on show hits the ultimate X on the grave of Wolverine himself as Deadpool finally gets what he has always wanted, a team up with a superhero who carried the genre long before The Avengers teamed up to fight whatever new bad guy arrived to threaten our world.

To say Deadpool and Wolverine is a total and utter blast is an understatement, the MCU has been in their X-MEN: Apocalypse since the reign of Thanos was snapped out of this universe in End Game and while this long-awaited entry is not quite the saviour Ryan Reynolds thinks it is with his continuous gags, its still one of the best MARVEL films in a long, long time, a story that somehow embraces the old and then gives enough hints that the future is still very bright, even with the impending threat of DOOM arriving in the near future as Deadpool bluntly tells his new side-kick, “Welcome to the MCU, by the way, you’re joining at a low point.”

And this is no low point, even though we start with Wade himself at that stage, six years after the events of the last sequel and despite his best intentions in joining The Avengers, he is rejected by both them and his true love Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and has retired from the superhero gig and trying to lay down a normal job and a routine life.

Its from here that fans of the LOKI TV series will recognise the TVA – it stands for Time Variance Authority-led here by Succession’s Matthew MacFayden who informs him his timeline is being destroyed and everyone he loves will die, all thanks to the events of the fan favourite and critical acclaimed LOGAN and yes, Wolverine at this part is very much dead.

But with his usual wise-cracks and a glimpse – no spoilers – of a future MARVEL film, Wade is back in the mask and ventures out in his own NO WAY HOME caper, looking for an alternative Wolverine in an hilarious sequence that riffs on the likes of Old Logan and one particular scene that will no doubt annoy the Zynder fans still mourning the loss of their very own Man of Steel.

The creative juices are in full flow as soon as Deadpool settles on the return of Hugh Jackman who effortlessly settles back in a role he has carried on his own for so many years and to the film’s credit, even though the gags are there in which it threatens to do it, not once does it insult the legacy of LOGAN, with Jackman playing a Wolverine we all seem to know, but with a huge difference, it works and it serves as one of the films strong points, with added bonus of the infamous yellow suit now fully on show, much to the delight after all these years.

After much bickering and a fight scene, they both end up in a place called The Void, a wasteland that reminds you of Mad Max with an added FOX LOGO buried in the sand that would make Charlton Heston himself scream out “You blew it up” as it will recall his visit to a certain Planet.

Its here the film sizzles and surprises, with cameos that will delight. One in particular blew me away with the way it flipped its expectancy and its followed by a few more crowd pleasing stunners that will leave fans of a particular age smiling from cheek to cheek.

Its not perfect! The constant breaking of the fourth wall eventually feels like there is no more wall to break and if the constant smug comedy of Reynolds is not your cup of tea, then you’ll find nothing here to amuse you, but for many, especially with THE BOYS so popular, this will become a box-office juggernaut.

Jackman and Reynolds are just a sublime double-act, both bouncing from each other’s gags and with Emma Corrin’s telekinetic Cassandra Nova proving to be a formidable foe, this long-awaited mash-up gives us everything and more. Its a honourable love-letter to everything FOX 2000 and yet wonderfully gives DISNEY a huge two fingers with its recent track record.

The beauty of Deadpool and Wolverine is that it reminds us of the building blocks to get us to where we are today – just look at the teary closing credits – to the confusing mess it is now and yet leaves us excited with what is now to come and with these two back…..the future is mixed with the potential of a bone metal clawed sharpness and an endless barrage of dick jokes…..

Rating: ★★★★☆