Deadpool & Wolverine – Rob Simonsen

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Movies about Marvel superheroes were divided between three movie studios: Sony, 21st Century Fox and Disney, with the majority of them coming from Disney, which had launched the wildly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  The Marvel movies of 21st Century Fox were a bit of a hit and miss, with the first X-Men movie, Deadpool and Deadpool 2 being one of my favorite films from that studio that I did like. The announcement of the third Deadpool movie, Deadpool & Wolverine, excited me a lot because it would combine my favorite Fox movies into one film. It would also bring the X-Men Wolverine out of retirement, and I was looking forward to seeing Wolverine and Deadpool battle it out in ludicrous duels between these two fast-healing superheroes. Another intriguing fact is that it is also the first Deadpool movie that will have ties with the MCU since Disney bought 21st Century Fox in 2019.

The reason why I like Deadpool movies so much is that Deadpool is not a traditional superhero. Calling him a hero would even be a disservice since he is more of an anti-hero with very questionable motives. These movies are also filled with dumb R-rated humor and many fourth-wall-breaking jokes that address the audience watching the film or mention aspects from the real world. Being an untraditional Marvel movie, with action and comedy blended together, can result in interesting film music, especially since all three scores for Deadpool movies are composed by different composers. Tom Holkenborg wrote a traditional score for Deadpool using the orchestra, electronics and other instruments like a bass guitar. He treated the movie as an action film. For Deadpool 2, Tyler Bates gave the music that same treatment, but he did something astonishing, by giving the choir a prominent role and letting the choir members sing curse words.

For the music for Deadpool & Wolverine, the assignment was given to Rob Simonsen. He did the same with the music as his two predecessors, by writing a score to emphasize the action and emotion on screen. There is some comedic effect to be found, by an occasional kitten sound in the music, for example, as can be heard in “LFG” and “Hideout,” but the jokes in a Deadpool movie do not need to be supported with comedic musical elements, the already existing songs would take care of that, like “You’re The One That I Want” from Grease or Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,”  which Simonsen arranged brilliantly for the film and has released it as an EP.

What Simonsen did differently from his fellow Deadpool composers is to give Deadpool a theme, which can be heard very well in the first two tracks, “LFG” and “Deadpool Has a Theme.” The theme plays a prominent role in the score and can be heard in many tracks. What I love about this theme is that, for some reason, it reminds me of the note sequence Holkenborg introduced in his Deadpool score. You can find these at the 50-second mark in “Maximum Effort” on that album. It is like the new Deadpool theme used those notes as its foundation, but I have to peek into Simonsen’s mind to see if that is the case.

Simonsen created another prominent theme for Deadpool & Wolverine, and you can hear it for the first time in “That’s Her.” That track starts with a wonderful version of the “Main Titles” from Marco Beltrami’s Logan, which fits perfectly with that scene. Afterwards, it transitions into an original emotional theme on the French Horn. This particular theme is also beautifully integrated during certain moments in the film, as is the Deadpool theme. I want to give this theme to Wolverine, but I have also heard it during other moments in the movie in which Wolverine was not the main focus. I love that Simonsen used Beltrami’s music from Logan, and you can hear Beltrami’s theme again in “You Were Always the Wrong Guy” and “I Walked Away.” It is a beautiful salute to Beltrami’s work. It is also not the only theme Simonsen reused for his film. In “Reaching Too High” you can hear a hint to Silvestri’s Avengers theme, tying the Deadpool universe to Disney’s MCU. 

The music for Deadpool & Wolverine was an interesting case study since it was written for such a unique film. Writing a more traditional orchestral score, with choir elements and just a small dose of comedic flair, really works when you leave the more comic relief to the songs and the scenes themselves. It makes the jokes hit harder because the soundtrack is more serious in contrast. It is a Marvel action movie after all. I also love the fact that Deadpool finally got his own theme. With this, Simonsen wrote a solid score with excellent theme integration, ideally suited for a Deadpool film.

Listen or buy

• Buy this soundtrack from Amazon or Apple Music
• Listen to this soundtrack on Spotify

Tracklist

The highlights are in bold.

1. LFG (1:49)
2. Deadpool Has a Theme (2:28)
3. It’s Been a While (0:38)
4. Reaching Too High (2:15)
5. Make a Wish (1:25)
6. Walk With Me (2:26)
7. Two Choices (2:31)
8. Eating My Feelings (2:29)
9. They’re Coming (2:25)
10. Family Feud (0:50)
11. I Love This Part (2:12)
12. Finger‐Lickin’ Dead‐Inside Pixie Slab of Third Rate Dime‐Store Nut‐Milk (3:04)
13. Your Fingers Are Inside Me, But Not in a Good Way (3:40)
14. You Were Chest F’d by a Tree (0:34)
15. Hideout (1:51)
16. That’s Her (0:52)
17. The Heroes We Were (1:04)
18. You Were Always the Wrong Guy (3:24)
19. Name for Myself (2:01)
20. Death or Enslavement (1:48)
21. I Walked Away (2:10)
22. My Brother Loved You (3:29)
23. We Have Company (2:56)
24. I Called Some Friends (1:01)
25. Steadily Great Since Endgame (1:29)
26. Enjoy My Peter (1:10)
27. Let’s up the Stakes (2:11)
28. He’s Not Gonna Make It (3:18)
29. Ripper Carnage (1:00)
30. There’s Nothing to Fix (1:23)
31. Special Sock (Bonus Track) (2:11)
32. Name for Myself (Alternate Version) (1:32)
33. Fallen Heroes (3:15)

Total length: 1 hour and 7 minutes
Hollywood Records (2024)