All 4 Deadpool movies ranked from worst to best

Wade Wilson is a character in every way imaginable; one of Marvel Comics' most unforgettable and a larger-than-life personality, he has been shocking, enraging, and captivating people for decades. And now, he's part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he has managed to do it all again.

Deadpool and Wolverine is one of the franchise's biggest success stories, and it's no easy feat to do that 34 movies in, but that's partly due to the success of the cinematic interpretation of Deadpool and the movie titan than he has become in his own right.

Ryan Reynolds' irreverent Merc With A Mouth first trash-talked his way onto the silver screen in 2016 (no, we're not talking about you X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and he's been making quite the spectacle of himself ever since. Not bad for a somewhat lesser-known antihero in a world full of larger-than-life, famous superheroes.

The most recent installment in the franchise is the third outing in the Deadpool franchise (fourth movie to star Reynolds as the character, though) but how does it size up to the previous outings? Truth be told, the Deadpool trilogy is a pretty flawless one at that, which made ranking them all the more difficult. I think we've figured it out, but honestly, when the movies are this good, it could have gone either way for the films.

Oh what the heck, let's include X-Men Origins: Wolverine too!

4. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Way back before Deadpool was a mainstream phenomenon on the big screen, a very unusual, very outlandish version of him appeared in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Portrayed by Ryan Reynolds, he was an ally of Logan's, before Major William Stryker experimented on him, turning him into a much more dangerous weapon than ever before. A weapon designed to kill the Wolverine. On paper, it sounds terrifying. In execution, it left a lot to be desired.

The sheer notion of crafting a Deadpool without the ability to speak was so unbelievably baffling. Imagine having the Merc With A Mouth but giving him no mouth. Sure, it was a nod to the fact that Wade Wilson did talk too much prior to the experiment, but it made for the biggest questionable creative choice in a movie that already had a lot of issues to begin with.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is considered one of the weaker X-Men movies for multiple reasons. Honestly, I don't mind it, as Hugh Jackman's performance is gripping and the final battle between Wolverine and Deadpool is pretty epic. Even if that isn't really Deadpool he's fighting. And yeah, it is one of the weaker X-Men movies; there's just no denying that.

As a movie in and of itself it's fine, but as a Deadpool movie, it's not very good at all. But hey, it did allow us to see the two characters share the screen for the first time, paving the way for their far superior showdown 15 years later.

3. Deadpool 2

After the success of Deadpool, a sequel came along just two years later. Deadpool 2 took a lot of cues from its predecessor, but it mixed in some new story elements that truly allowed it to stand on its own two feet. And honestly, it stood pretty upright and firm.

This one was all about family, as Wade Wilson had to deal with the prospect of losing the one person he cared about more than anyone else: His beloved Vanessa. After watching her die, Wade took it upon himself to track down her killers, before attempting to be a better person. The results were mixed, as he ended up getting himself incarcerated. But that's where he was presented with the opportunity to do some good, as the arrival of Cable (played brilliantly by Josh Brolin) turned everything upside down.

Deadpool 2's focus on family is what elevates it, as it provides audiences with an incredibly emotional story about a Wade who doesn't want to live in a world without Vanessa, only to realize that he still has a family who cares about him. That, the arrival of the X-Force, and the more outlandish battle scenes made Deadpool 2 an incredibly worthy sequel.

2. Deadpool

To call Deadpool a work of genius would be to underestimate it. It is indeed a work of genius, but it was so genius in fact that this loud, in-your-face, low-budget superhero movie about an antihero so much of the mainstream movie audience wasn't familiar with turned into a box office phenomenon that very quickly made Deadpool a movie titan. You see why we needed more words?

The 2016 film told the story of Marvel Comics' Wade Wilson, who had evolved into an immortal metahuman capable of regenerating his own living tissue after taking on some life-altering treatment in a bid to cure his cancer. As Deadpool, he hunted down the people responsible for doing that to him, all while trying to work up the courage to show the love of his life who he had become after walking out on her to fight his battle alone.

Deadpool needed to understand its central character to work, and I don't think you'll find anybody who would say it didn't. Ryan Reynolds captured Wade Wilson's hilariously intolerable personality to perfection, working the big screen (and breaking the fourth wall) with ease. He was so charming, witty, and annoying all at the same time, and that's Deadpool in a nutshell.

The film had the right blend of heart and humor, with more violence and crude jokes than the superhero genre would have ever allowed in another decade. It all came together so well.

1. Deadpool and Wolverine

The movie event of 2024, Deadpool and Wolverine quickly became the most anticipated upcoming movie as soon as it was announced two years prior. That's a lot of hype to live up to, but as the record-breaking box office run speaks for itself, it pulled it off.

This was a passion project for Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman; a chance for the former to get the Wolverine crossover he had longed for, and a chance for the latter to come out of X-Men retirement in the comic-accurate suit fans had been waiting to see. All of that and more came together to perfection in a movie that is as ambitious as it is wild.

Set in the MCU, the film sees Deadpool unite with a different version of Logan in the hopes of saving his universe from annihilation. The adventure that comes next for the titular duo is nothing short of epic, with their insane chemistry proving that a Deadpool and Wolverine team-up movie was worth the decade-and-a-half wait.

A perfect farewell to the Fox X-Men universe and the exciting start of a new chapter for both as part of the MCU, Deadpool and Wolverine is everything we wanted it to be - and so much more.