I’ll admit it: ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool’s “low point” joke at the MCU’s expense in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine isn’t as unfair as I first thought. There were many reasons to be excited about ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool’s MCU debut in 2024’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine. Setting aside the тιтular team-up itself, it marked the X-Men’s first in-earnest foray into the MCU after mutants were established in movies like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It had also been six years since ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool was on the big screen, and I was personally hyped about seeing how Marvel Studios would incorporate the Merc’ with a Mouth into the wider MCU.

I think we all knew what to expect. ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool is the last character to pull his punches, both physically and verbally, with some of ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool’s best jokes being at the expense of his co-stars and the filmmakers responsible for bringing him into live-action. The fact is, the MCU had a big target painted on its back by the time ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine neared release, with the movie that immediately preceded it, The Marvels, becoming the MCU’s lowest-grossing to date. At first, I thought ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool kicked the MCU while it was down. In retrospect, he was kind of right.

ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine Made A Joke About The MCU Being At A Low Point

ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool’s MCU Opinions Were Not Censored

ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool took aim at the MCU more than once in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine. His rapid-fire quips can be hard to keep track of, but one of the most memorable came early on, moments after ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool’s Wolverine-hunting montage brought “Worst Wolverine” to the TVA. After lambasting an often-cited MCU trope with a “He’s standing right behind me…isn’t he?” (A “trope” I will always ᴀssert is unfair), ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool strikes right at the heart of the matter when he turns to Wolverine and says “Welcome to the MCU, by the way. You’re joining at a bit of a low point.”

This wouldn’t be the last joke ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool would make at the Multiverse Saga’s expense, either. Towards the end, moments before brawling with the ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool Corps in one of ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine‘s best action sequences, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool pleads, “Can we just be done? With the whole multiverse thing? It’s not great. It’s just been miss after miss after miss.” Compared to his earlier joke, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool certainly doesn’t mince his words here.

At the same time, he wasn’t exactly wrong. The MCU had released its worst-rated movie, worst-rated TV show, and worst-performing movie in the space of the single year preceding ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine. Prior to this, the Multiverse Saga launched with a string of underperformers, with (in release order) Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Eternals becoming the third, fifth, and fourth-lowest-grossing MCU movies, respectively, at the time. Eternals was also the MCU’s first “Rotten” movie on Rotten Tomatoes at the time, though it has since gained company.

Captain America: Brave New World Is The Latest MCU Project To Disappoint Critics

It Continues To Divide Critics And Fans

Captain America: Brave New World has proved to be a particularly divisive MCU installment. The positive response to ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine might have supercharged optimism for the future of the MCU had Captain America: Brave New World not helped to continue a baffling new trend where a critical dud follows an acclaimed installment. While I hope this doesn’t continue on the current trajectory, it exemplifies a glaring issue the MCU faces in the Multiverse Saga, as its critical flops are disproportionately part of the last two MCU phases.

Of the ten worst-rated MCU productions across TV and cinema, seven are a part of the Multiverse Saga. Sadly, as the third-worst-rated (so far), Captain America: Brave New World has exacerbated this unfortunate stat, though it notably knocked Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – another Multiverse Saga installment – out of the bottom ten. Thor: The Dark World, which held the bottom spot for eight years, is now the seventh-worst-rated MCU movie, with critics now rating it higher than its sequel, Thor: Love & Thunder.

I’ve Changed My Mind, MCU Phases 4 And 5 Are A Low Point For Marvel

It’s Hard To Overlook The Issues The Multiverse Saga Has Faced

I’ll preface what I’m about to say by acknowledging that there seems to be a form of cognitive bias regarding critics’ opinions of recent MCU installments, which relates to why I think Avengers: Endgame helped to destroy the MCU. Whether Thor: Love & Thunder is truly worse than Thor: The Dark World, for instance, is debatable, while general sentiments towards Eternals have vastly improved in the three years since its release. Setting aside my personal opinions, however, it’s hard to ignore the issues that plague MCU Phases 4 and 5.

For example, while I think Eternals is one of the most egregiously underrated MCU installments, the тιтular team epitomizes one of the biggest problems of the Multiverse Saga. Alongside Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, and Dane Whitman (to name a few), the Eternals are an example of characters recently introduced in one MCU Phase only to be sidelined for the entirety of the next MCU Phase. This is both unheard of and indicative of an oversaturation issue. After all, MCU stalwarts like Thor and Spider-Man are still going strong as the MCU’s character roster only continues to swell.

This also feeds into the MCU feeling more disparate than ever. Without an Avengers movie to help punctuate each phase and bring its composite characters together for a common cause, there is little reason to care about what Shang-Chi has been up to, personal desires notwithstanding. Set-ups like the two post-credits scenes of Eternals additionally remain unaddressed. Still, while the Multiverse Saga has its issues, I refuse to lose sight of the fact that it hosted some of the best MCU installments, which imbues me with hope for the future.

Marvel Can Still Turn Things Around In MCU Phase 6

MCU Phase 6 Boasts The Most Promising Release Slate Yet

Recent MCU installments like Agatha All Along and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 help to prove the MCU hasn’t yet run the gamut. Furthermore, should the strange on-again-off-again pattern that seems to be emerging in the MCU continue with Thunderbolts* (especially if the latest Thunderbolts* trailer is anything to go by), then we should be in for yet another stellar MCU installment. The concern, then, is that The Fantastic Four: First Steps will fall short of expectations – but I think that’s highly unlikely.

Instead, Thunderbolts* could end MCU Phase 5 on a high note and open the door to a phase that could be, dare I say it, comparable to MCU Phase 3. The building blocks for a mind-blowing MCU Phase 6 are all there, launching with one of the most anticipated MCU installments that Kevin Feige himself has professed to be a labor of love, and ending – finally – with two Avengers movies. Other confirmed MCU projects for Phase 6 include Spider-Man 4, the latest installment in one of the MCU’s most dependable franchises.

ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine was right: The Multiverse Saga has been a low point for the MCU. The pressure on MCU Phase 6 to succeed is immense, and I don’t envy the filmmakers involved in delivering on such H๏τly anticipated movies as The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Avengers: Doomsday. Thankfully, Avengers movies are the perfect space to finally deliver on the myriad plot threads the Multiverse Saga has left hanging, and perhaps the vast gulf between Avengers installments will help to supercharge enthusiasm for this saga’s climax when it finally rolls around.

Upcoming MCU Movies

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  Thunderbolts*

  Release Date

  
  May 2, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  The Fantastic Four: First Steps

  Release Date

  
  July 25, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Avengers: Doomsday (2026)

  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
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  Spider-Man Homecoming 4

  Release Date

  
  July 24, 2026
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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  Avengers: Secret Wars

  Release Date

  
  May 7, 2027
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

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Source: Rotten Tomatoes