“Deadpool & Wolverine” continues the Marvel movie franchise.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” is in theaters making boatloads of cash, and while it may feature a cavalcade of characters you haven’t yet seen interact doing super stuff together, it is unsuccessful as a piece of cinema on practically every level.

It professes to be a “love letter” to the largely failed slate of Fox superhero movies, but it doesn’t even do that well. I’ll try with this piece to give thanks to this franchise myself (I’m assuming you don’t need me to recommend “X2: X-Men United” (2003), “X-Men: First Class” (2011), and “Logan” (2017): they’re fun, smart, and were successful).

Let’s say you want some big action spectacle, or some solid thematic commentary. “X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006) is a far cry from the most cohesive film in the franchise, but by golly is it ambitious. Queer symbolism is highlighted from its opening scene and baked into its mutant “cure” narrative. Kelsey Grammar’s Beast and Sir Ian McKellan’s Magneto are great as political counterpoints. Ignore the “Dark Phoenix” stuff, and focus on the Golden Gate and car-flipping stuff.

But maybe you’re more interested in the meta-aspect of major studios changing hands, and the wreckage such a thing wreaks. Look no further than “The New Mutants” (2020), which was delayed for years during post-production due to changes in leadership and reshoots. The final product is a modest, character-driven coming-of-age story tinged with superpowers. It’s really quite cute!

If it’s “Deadpool” specifically that you’re craving, just revisit the first! “Deadpool” (2016) was a film Fox did not want to make for fear of alienating audiences, until test footage leaked online and became so popular they had to fund it. It’s a romance between two happy, sex-positive people that’s interrupted by cancer, and then supervillains.

Wade Wilson spits in cancer’s face, guts the supervillains, and takes on all superhero films while he’s at it. What’s not to love?

And if you really, desperately feel a need to give money to Disney, by all means go to their streaming service and watch “X-Men ‘97” — it’s some of the best superhero media to date.

As for the rest of the films discussed, check your local library or used video store for these gems from a now-closed chapter in blockbuster history.