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DEADPOOL
Starring Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson / Deadpool), Morena Baccarin (Vanessa), Ed Skrein (Ajax), T.J. Miller (Weasel), Gina Carano (Angel Dust), and Briana Hildebrand (Negasonic Teenage Warhead) with a special appearance by Stan Lee
Directed by Tim Miller
Produced by Simon Kinberg, Ryan Reynolds, and Lauren Shuler Donner
Written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
Music By Tom Holkenborg
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 1 hour and 48 minutes
World Premier: February 8, 2016, Paris, France
Opening Weekend Box Office: $153 million (in the United States over President’s Day Weekend)
Worldwide Box Office: $783 million
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
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Fun Deadpool Facts
Deadpool was created for Marvel Comics by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, debuting in New Mutants #98 in February of 1991. The release of Deadpool coincided with the character’s 25th Anniversary.
Deadpool was seen at the time as the long-awaited debut of the Merc with a Mouth in live action on film, and that is despite the character’s technical debut in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. In that film, Wade Wilson was portrayed by actor Ryan Reynolds (just as he is in Deadpool), but aside from a few brief scenes that showcase his swordsmanship and attitude early in the movie, the character was far from any sort of faithful adaptation of the character that comic book readers loved. The “Deadpool” that is ultimately seen in Origins is actually Weapon XI; a sort of super-duper mutant that has been imbued with the powers and abilities of several other mutants including Cyclops, Wolverine, and Wraith. Though the body of Wade Wilson was Weapon XI’s host body, his mouth was sewn shut and he shot lasers out of his eyes and wielded retractable Adamantium swords. Heading into the film, the casting of Ryan Reynolds for the role was actually met with widespread acclaim, as he had been a longstanding fan choice, much like Patrick Stewart had once upon a time been universally fan cast as Professor X. In fact, in 2004’s Cable and Deadpool # 2, the Deadpool character himself describes his physical appearance as “Ryan Reynolds crossed with Shar-pei.” Prior to being cast, Reynolds had been hard at work trying to develop a film centered around Marvel’s Merc with a Mouth, and he therefore accepted the part in Origins with a great deal of enthusiasm. The end result however, ended up leaving much left to be desired and the “Deadpool” seen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine was lambasted as an abomination.
Coming out of Origins, bringing Deadpool to life in a more faithful and satisfactory way became an obsession for Ryan Reynolds. In 2010, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were hired to write the script for a potential solo film. In the Spring of 2011, Tim Miller, who’d never actually directed a film, but had worked on X-Men movies previously in the visual effects department, was hired to direct the film. Ryan Reynolds would work closely with Miller in a Producer role. Deadpool was set for takeoff until …
Warner Brothers’ Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds as DC Comics character Hal Jordan was released in the Summer of 2011. The film was a box office bomb ($219 million on a reported $200 million budget) and a critical failure (26% Rotten Tomatoes Score). Fox executives soured on Deadpool as a result, doubting Reynolds’ drawing power as a lead amidst lingering concerns about the R-rated pitch for the film. Miller was allotted the financing to produce some test footage, which he did via CGI with Reynolds voicing Deadpool. Fox executives were reportedly unimpressed, and Deadpool was shelved while considerations were made on how to incorporate the character into a future ensemble X-Men film.
In the Summer of 2014, Tim Miller’s Deadpool test footage was anonymously leaked online and generated a great deal of enthusiasm and acclaim. This provoked Fox to approve the film (albeit with a smaller budget than superhero films traditionally received at the time) and in September, an official release date of February 12, 2016, was announced.
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The Negasonic Teenage Warhead character appeared in Deadpool courtesy of a deal between Fox and Marvel Entertainment that allowed Fox to use NTW and change her power set from what it is in the comics in exchange for Marvel Studios being able to use Ego the Living Planet in 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Volume Two.
Deadpool began filming on March 23, 2015, and wrapped on May 29, 2015.
In Deadpool, the titular character’s white eyes are a CGI creation which allows the character to express a wide range of emotions, despite wearing a mask that completely covers his face. Marvel Studios would use this same technique while bringing Spider-Man into the MCU in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.
The Colossus character was a fully CGI creation in Deadpool. The character had been previously portrayed by actor Daniel Cudmore in Fox’s X-Men films, but the version seen in Deadpool is a completely different take on the character, one that much more closely resembles his comic book counterpart, complete with his immense size and Russian heritage,
Deadpool boasted a remarkable and acclaimed marketing campaign that saw Ryan Reynolds portray the character for several trailer teases and releases, and even some fun skits! On April Fools’ Day, Reynolds announced that Deadpool would officially be Rated-R after a PG-13 tease in a fun vignette that featured actor Mario Lopez. There was also a fun Halloween skit filmed with Reynolds portraying Deadpool alongside several children dressed as X-Men characters. On top of these, there were a series of unconventional billboards and movie posters that promoted the film, and Reynolds worked social media in-character.
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Deadpool was one of four Marvel films that were produced in 2016, but Deadpool was made without any input from Marvel Studios, as the working relationship between Marvel and Fox ended with 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, with Marvel Entertainment promoting Kevin Feige to lead the Marvel Studios team that would birth the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel Studios produced both Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange in 2016, while Fox produced both Deadpool and X-Men: Apocalypse. Captain America: Civil War was the highest-grossing film of 2016 ($1.1 billion) while Deadpool ($782 million) was the ninth highest-grossing film of the year. Deadpool outperformed both Doctor Strange ($ 677 million) and X-Men: Apocalypse ($543 million). Deadpool furthermore outperformed WB / DC’s Suicide Squad ($746 million) and fell just over $30 million short of topping WB / DC’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which cost over $200 million more to shoot. It should also be noted that Deadpool topped all other Fox X-Men films at the box office, dethroning X-Men: Days of Future Past, while also becoming the highest-grossing R-rated film ever at the time of its release.
In 2017, Fox produced the critically acclaimed film Logan starring Hugh Jackman. It was the company’s second R-rated X-Men production.
On December 17, 2017, the Walt Disney Company announced that an agreement had been reached with 20th Century Fox that would see Disney acquire Fox’s television and film divisions, among other things. Disney had acquired Marvel Entertainment at the end of 2009, and Marvel Studios with it. The lucrative Fox deal therefore landed the film rights to Marvel’s mutants under the Disney / Marvel Studios umbrella. Fox shareholders unanimously approved the transaction on July 27, 2018, and the deal was finalized on March 20, 2019. In the meantime, Deadpool 2 was released theatrically in 2018, followed by Dark Phoenix in 2019, and New Mutants in 2020. New Mutants marked the thirteenth X-Men film and the last X-Men project produced by the previous regime at Fox.
The Fox X-Men film Universe is more than a little complicated, and things were even further complicated with the introduction of Deadpool, as seen in Deadpool. Getting a grip on how Deadpool works as a character within a cinematic world is quite complex due to the character’s self-awareness and frequent fourth wall breaks, which are traits that are true to the comics. Essentially, Deadpool not only knows that he is in a movie and that there is an audience watching him, but he is also specifically aware of Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds as actors and of Green Lantern and X-Men Origins: Wolverine as films. Each of these things are referenced by Deadpool in Deadpool. He possesses copies of magazines with both Reynolds and Jackman on the cover (he even staples a picture of Jackman’s face to his during the film), he directly refers to Ryan Reynolds as an actor during a conversation with Blind Al in the film, he begs his captors not to make his super suit “animated or green”, as it was in Green Lantern, and he even owns a Weapon XI action figure! From a narrative standpoint, it would seem that Deadpool is actively being filmed by someone and he knows it. He also understands that what is being filmed is going to be shown to audiences like us. He talks directly to us at different points in the film and even sticks an old piece of gum to a camera while in the back of a taxicab. The filmmakers never try and explain how all of this works. It’s the same way in the comics too, where Deadpool knows that he is a comic book character and that there are readers reading about his exploits through that medium. In the comics, Deadpool blames the pain that is his existence on his “writers” while chastising his readers for being entertained by it all (check out Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe – it’s amazing)! Meanwhile, in the film, Deadpool knows who Ryan Reynolds is, but he does not seem to understand that he is Ryan Reynolds, though he seems to understand that he does resemble Reynolds in an uncanny way. Some of these themes were addressed in a rather clever way in Marvel Studios’ 2022 Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which featured a character in Jennifer Walters / She- Hulk that also (like in the comics) realizes that she is a character within a story. In She-Hulk, Jen (like Deadpool) understands and acknowledges that she is part of a cinematic production. Hers is a TV series of which she is the star. In the ninth episode of that series, She-Hulk literally breaks the fourth wall, crashing through the Disney+ menu screen and essentially leaving the Universe in which her show is set and entering another Universe in which her show is filmed. This Universe very much resembles our Universe (the real world), complete with a production company called Marvel Studios producing a She-Hulk television series of which She-Hulk is the star. Interestingly, just as is the case with Deadpool, Jen does not profess to be actress Tatiana Maslany portraying the She-Hulk character. She thinks that she is Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk and she physically confronts the writers of her show over the events of the series, asking them in no uncertain terms to change her narrative. This leads to She-Hulk encountering an advanced Artificial Intelligence program known as K.E.V.I.N. (a loose adaptation of the real-life head of Marvel Studios and architect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Kevin Feige). K.E.V.I.N. defends its narrative, explaining that everything is done in an effort to cater to the viewing audience, but ultimately changes things up for Jen, who returns to the Universe that her show is set in to a great deal of sudden and virtually unexplained changes. The way I interpret the K.E.V.I.N. reveal is that it essentially reveals that the MCU is a Simulated Reality. Jen (due to what K.E.V.I.N. later labels as a “glitch”) somehow became aware of her surroundings as well as the nature of her reality as best as she could understand it. It would seem that this occurred after she became a Hulk, and Deadpool seems to be in the same sort of boat, with his mutation being the trigger (at no point in Deadpool during the scenes set during the time before Wade’s torture at the hands of Ajax does the character break the fourth wall). Marvel Studios is currently in the midst of its Multiverse Saga, and this Saga is actively canonizing a lot of past productions based on Marvel characters that Marvel Studios had some or no part in and making them MCU adjacent. Deadpool is one of those productions, for Marvel Studios is in active development of the yet-to-be-titled Deadpool 3. So, the Deadpool character exists as part of the greater MCU Multiverse, which means that K.E.V.I.N. (or something similar) probably has the same influence over Deadpool that it does over She-Hulk (a notion that I believe due to Jen name-dropping The X-Men during her conversation with K.E.V.I.N.) … This would mean that the entire MCU Multiverse is part of the same simulation, and this theory explains away a lot of inconsistencies within the Multiverse. Why do characters look like certain actors? Because the likenesses of certain people (like Ryan Reynolds for instance) are licensed by K.E.V.I.N.’s Marvel Studios, much like Marvel comic book characters were licensed by film studios in the past. K.E.V.I.N.’s Marvel Studios owns the likeness of a person named Ryan Reynolds as an intellectual property that they can use as they see fit and that translates to making the Deadpool character look like Ryan Reynolds, and apparently to creating a character named Ryan Reynolds that also exists within Deadpool’s world. This also explains how and why other characters (like Blade: Trinity‘s Hannibal King) also look like Ryan Reynolds, and how in the MCU, Bruce Banner suddenly changed from looking like Edward Norton to looking like Mark Ruffalo. Presumably, K.E.V.I.N.’s Marvel Studios lost the licensing rights to the Norton likeness and the other characters within the Universe were programmed to not notice the change, which was obvious to us, the viewers. For all intents and purposes, it would seem that what these characters endure within this simulation that is the MCU Multiverse is not a case of acting on their part but are things that are very real to them; they actually really happen to them. Pain hurts. Death is real. Etc. It would also seem, due to the fact that the She-Hulk character was able to physically exist in K.E.V.I.N.’s world as a three-dimensional entity, that K.E.V.I.N.’s world is also (unbeknownst to K.E.V.I.N.) a simulation. That makes the MCU Multiverse a simulation within a simulation; one that is controlled (also unbeknownst by K.E.V.I.N.) by our Kevin Feige in our world where Marvel Studios exists as a different kind of production company that makes movies based on characters from comic book stories. As for how Deadpool is aware of other films, this could be one of two things and is probably a combination of both: either X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Green Lantern exist as movies in his world (like Star Wars and Footloose exist within the MCU 616-Universe), or Deadpool’s “glitch” is a psychic one that enables him to not only be aware of other Universes, but to see into them. It’s all very meta and it’s all very complicated and I could be way off the mark here in my way of thinking, but this is how it all works in my head canon, based on the evidence that I, as a viewer have been given.
As for there being two Wade Wilson’s in the X-Men film Universe, this is mostly explained in X-Men: Days of Future Past. The events of that film essentially erased the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The time traveling events of Wolverine in that movie and his efforts to change the future by changing the past essentially created a New Reality where things will now play themselves out in a different way than the dystopian future that Logan traveled back through time from did … that is unless it was all part of some kind of complex Time Loop.
For in Marvel Studios’ Loki series, two new forms of Time Travel were introduced into the MCU: Closed Loops and the “Butterfly Effect” (where the present can be changed in the past in real time) methods. Over the course of its two Seasons, the Loki series saw the MCU 616-Universe revealed as an isolated series of Universes that were remnants of a vast Multiversal War and that comprised a controlled Flow of Time known as the Sacred Timeline that was established by the entity known as He Who Remains and was policed by His Time Variance Authority in an effort to prevent another Multiversal War. The series ends with the death of He Who Remains and the destruction of the Temporal Loom that kept the Sacred Timeline functional, exposing the Sacred Timeline, which was now allowed to freely branch out in all directions under the guardianship of a Loki Variant that at long last ascended to Godhood. The TVA came out of the Loki series still intact, but with new objectives, the primary one being the pruning of Multiversal Variants of He Who Remains. The TVA are rumored to be appearing in Deadpool 3, with many theorizing they will appear to address the time traveling shenanigans that he carried out at the end of Deadpool 2, which I will get to in greater detail in my review of that film.
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My Deadpool Review
I am a huge Deadpool fan! I am first and foremost a Marvel Studios enthusiast, but if you were to come to my home and view my collection of superhero related things, there is a lot of Deadpool. I own nearly every Deadpool comic book ever published in Oversized Hardcover / Omnibus form, several Deadpool Funko Pop’s, t-shirts, action figures, and even a Hot Toys Deadpool figure that I count as one of my most prized possessions. I’d have to say that my favorite Deadpool comic book run is Joe Kelly’s Deadpool with Cable and Deadpool by Fabian Nicieza as a close runner-up, but I cherish Gerry Duggan’s extensive work with the character too! Really though, I appreciate for some reason or another everything that every writer has contributed to Deadpool as a comic book character over the years from Rob Liefeld to Daniel Way and everyone in between. Loki is my favorite Marvel character, followed by Wanda Maximoff and then Steve Rogers, but Deadpool is probably the character that I see myself in the most. I’ve been through some shit (haven’t we all?) and I developed a tendency at an early age to cope with tragedy and heartache through humor. I was never the most popular guy when I grew up, but I learned that making people laugh was an easy way to make friends. People generally like to have fun and laughter is the best medicine there is, and I latched on to those notions proudly.
Deadpool makes me laugh. Some days – more days than I would care to admit in fact – laughing feels impossible and even smiling is hard for me. Life just gets in the way, but Deadpool has provided me with an escape from the troubles of my world more times than I could possibly count. I love his personality, his smart-ass mouth, his love for Chimichangas, and the way he laughs in the face of danger and tragedy. I like how the character sees the world and I relate a lot to the way the character sees himself. I also love the big explosions and enormous gunfights that he more often than not gets himself into and I find the whole foul-mouthed, devil-may-care thing entertaining and enjoyable as a reader. Like me, Deadpool is no saint, and he doesn’t pretend to be, but my most favorite stories that involve him are the ones in which he is trying to be good; to do the right thing; to be a hero. I think that’s a struggle that just about anyone can relate to in some way or another and it is a struggle that defines our respective individual journeys. Wade wrestles with all of that quite often and that’s one of the things that I find most intriguing about the character.
On top of all of that, Deadpool is weird! He’s an outcast! He’s strange. He’s different. He doesn’t quite fit in. I relate to all of those things too. I see the world through such a different lens than just about anyone that I know does and that makes for a lonely and frustrating existence at times. Sometimes I wish I could think differently … I just can’t and I just don’t. The fact that Deadpool exists as a character and is as popular as he is lets me know that I’m not as unique and not as alone as I may sometimes feel that I am, and that’s encouraging!
Beyond the humor and all of the over-the-top antics, I love how damaged Deadpool is. He is at times a very dark character and underneath all of the jokes and supposed bravado, there is a very wounded soul. Underneath the mask, Deadpool isn’t attractive. He has been hurt, abused, manipulated, taken advantage of, and then hurt some more. The red and black mask that Wade Wilson wears is akin to the mask that I often wear, which manifests itself as a quiet smile or even an obnoxious laugh. I don’t mind showcasing that side of myself because it hides the side of myself that sometimes I don’t want people to see and at others, they don’t want to see. The mask isn’t always for me. A lot of times, it’s for them, so they aren’t uncomfortable.
These things make Deadpool such a deep and unique character beyond the quipping and wise cracking, and again, he is just a character that I relate to like none other in all of fiction.
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Being the Deadpool fan that I am, I was ecstatic when the Deadpool movie was officially announced. I’m a pretty big fan of Ryan Reynolds as an actor (I actually like Blade: Trinity just because of Reynolds’ performance) and I will say that he is as perfect of a casting choice for a superhero character as there has ever been. X-Men Origins: Wolverine wasn’t his fault, and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool is right up there with Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in terms of all-time greatness. Ryan Reynolds IS Deadpool as if he came to life off the pages of the comics! The voice, the attitude, the style, the personality, the way that he looks in the costume … it’s all perfect, and I was a fan of the casting even before I saw the film, following every single thing that Ryan Reynolds did to promote the movie, with each vignette, each promotional appearance, and each tweet making me anticipate Deadpool all the more! I just knew that Deadpool was going to be special, and it was! I saw Deadpool in the theater alongside my wife on Valentine’s Day weekend, and it was an absolutely surreal experience!
Deadpool opens with an adaptation of the test footage that was leaked that helped get this movie green-lit with Wade in full costume dismantling Ajax’s mercenaries on a freeway. There is blood. There is gore. There is violence. There are guns. There are swords. There is language. There is comedy. And there is more violence! The gist of this scene is that Wade only has 12 bullets with which to take down Ajax’s men as he meticulously makes his way to the man that he hates most in all the world. This results in a funny and visually stimulating murder sequence as Wade inventively (and sometimes wastefully) kills the mercenaries. There are car crashes and motorcycle crashes and blood splatters and even decapitations, complete with graphic depictions of flesh being destroyed by gunfire and swordsmanship. It’s far more funny than grotesque if you have the stomach for this sort of stuff, and I thought it was all executed brilliantly, complete with Deadpool narrating a lot of the action to us, his viewing audience.
Wade’s one-man rampage ultimately leads him to Ajax (whom he mockingly calls Francis, just like in the comics), and after impaling Ajax, Wade is confronted by Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, who saw the carnage that he was unleashing on a local news report. The chemistry between Brianna Hildebrand and Ryan Reynolds is wonderful and all of Wade’s taunts and his mocking of Colossus are hilarious. Colossus is presented as a very straight personality with a strict code of honor and a great deal of nobility, while Wade of course simply doesn’t care about any of that. This creates a very entertaining dynamic between the two, as does Colossus’ steel frame. After handcuffing Wade to himself and consequently allowing Ajax to escape, Colossus tries to take Wade back to see “the Professor” at which point we get the classic “McAvoy or Stewart?” line, which was amazing! Wade then cuts his own hand off (giving Colossus the finger) and escapes X-Men custody.
We then flashback to Wade’s pre-Deadpool days. We learn that Wade is a former Special Forces operative from Canada that was dishonorably discharged after which he became a freelance mercenary. We see a great sequence of Wade (having been hired by a young girl) torturing a young pizza delivery guy that had been stalking the girl. Ryan Reynolds is pure gold here with some hilarious – and intimidating – dialogue.
From there, Wade meets a prostitute named Vanessa at Weasel’s bar where “The Dead Pool” is ongoing (mercs place bets on the lives of other mercs). Wade and Vanessa share a ski ball date that serves as the foundation of a true romance the likes of which neither ever realistically believed they’d ever experience. Wade’s crazy matches Vanessa’s crazy and they are perfect for each other. We get a fun montage of the couple uniquely celebrating various Holidays in the bedroom and all of this is done to illustrate the complete and total happiness that each of them has found in the other. Theirs is a beautiful romance, but just when it seems that nothing can bring them down, Wade is diagnosed with Stage Four terminal cancer.
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Wade is completely devastated … not just because he is dying, but over what he knows this will do to his beloved Vanessa. Wade is anything but selfish here. In fact, all that he can think about is her and Wade wants to do whatever he can to spare her the horror show that he knows this will be, even if that means leaving her. She of course does not want this and is appalled that he would even suggest such a thing because she loves him and wants to spend every last moment of his life with him. It’s a brilliant sequence and just as I was saying with the comic book character, this whole ordeal sees Ryan Reynolds go way beyond the jokes and wise cracking. He puts on his acting boots and damn it, you can see the pain on his face, and you can feel his torment. It’s scenes like these that make this movie what it is, and this was just really great stuff.
As fate would have it, Wade is soon approached by a creepy and mysterious dude in a black suit that offers him the chance to not only cure his cancer, but to obtain superhuman abilities (and the jokes that Wade makes at this guy’s expense are SO good). Wade initially rejects the too good to be true offer, but desperate to have more time with Vanessa, Wade goes on to leave in the middle of the night and take the guy up on his offer.
This is where this love story / romantic comedy / superhero film becomes a horror movie.
Wade is taken to Ajax’s workshop where he quickly learns that what he signed up for was not what he signed up for. Ajax is a mutant; one that has himself gone through the horrific and torturous ordeal that Wade is about to go through. Here, potential mutants are relentlessly tortured until their dormant mutant gene is activated by the stress of the trauma they endure. In Ajax’s case, he no longer feels pain or emotion. He is numb. To everything. Ajax’s assistant is a super strong woman named Angel Dust. I will go ahead and praise Ed Skrein and Gina Carano both as being delightfully despicable. As a viewer, I’m supposed to hate them, and my goodness, did I HATE Ajax in this film. The character was very loosely adapted from the comics, with the only real similarity of note (aside from his lack of empathy) being the fact that Ajax is more or less one of Deadpool’s arch enemies (second only to T-Ray in my opinion), but none of that mattered. Ed Skrein effectively portrayed Ajax as an emotionless prick and it worked. Gina as Ajax’s muscle worked as well.
From here, Ajax tortures Wade in a variety of horrific ways. A lot of this is taken straight from the comics as told in the awesome Deadpool and Death Annual by Joe Kelly (1998). I love the line where Ajax tells Wade that a sense of humor never survives his workshop, and Wade’s harassing of Ajax with the “something in your teeth” thing was great. Ryan Reynolds did a really great job of being defiant in the face of horror here, but the real highlight is the fear that he conveys with his eyes when Ajax puts him in the oxygen chamber deal. Again, Ryan Reynolds is SO good throughout this movie!
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Being placed in the Hypobaric Chamber for a weekend activates Wade’s mutation; a regenerative healing factor that counteracts his cancer. However, he is left physically disfigured with blisters and pores and boils which scar his skin from head-to-toe. He also loses his body hair. Deadpool – for better or worse – is born!
After Ajax teases Wade with a cure, Wade makes an explosive escape attempt that reduces Ajax’s workshop to ashes, but Ajax dominates the fight with Wilson and leaves Wade for dead.
Wade of course, survives.
Wade wrestles with whether or not to approach Vanessa, but ultimately can’t bring himself to do it due to what he perceives to be his repulsive physical appearance. He goes to Weasel, who is of no comfort, but does help Wade come up with the name “Deadpool” for his vengeance seeking superhero persona, based on the bar’s ongoing “Dead Pool” bet, which Weasel will now never win because he bet on Wade.
From there, Wade carves a path of violence that he hopes will lead him to Ajax and this is a gloriously violent scene with a lot of bad things happening to a lot of bad people, including the man that first recruited Wade. We then (literally) fast-forward to present day and Wade’s failed “Christmas Day” confrontation with Ajax to get cured.
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Wade is somewhat comforted by Blind Al, and my goodness, Leslie Uggams is PERFECT as Blind Al. If you know, you know, but even if you don’t, she has such a unique attitude and emits such a unique charisma and her and Reynolds are comedy gold together! I just LOVED all of this!
Sadly, while Wade recovers from his altercation with Colossus, he learns from Weasel that Ajax and Angel Dust are targeting Vanessa to get to him. Wade sets out to warn her at a local strip club where Stan Lee is a DJ / announcer (amazing), but his nerves and self-doubt prevent him from warning her in time, and Ajax and Angel Dust abduct her. Wade is sent into a rage (another wonderful performance by Ryan Reynolds) and after rounding up all of his resources, sets out to confront Francis and rescue Vanessa.
In a battle that appears to take place on a crashed Helicarrier (whether it is or not doesn’t really matter at this point, but it was a great point of conjecture at the time), Wade, Colossus, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead unite to take down Ajax and Angel Dust. This is more blood and more violence with superhero landings and explosions and even “(Hydra) Bob” (if you know, you know)! It’s great, and Wade eventually more or less saves the day after shooting Ajax in the face at point-blank range while Colossus tries to convince him to do the “right thing.”: This was BRILLIANT! I loved it SO much, and I also loved Vanessa (after repeatedly calling Wade an asshole for abandoning her) accepts Wade despite his physical flaws and the movie ends with the two sharing several passionate kisses while Wade sings Careless Whisper by Wham! (featuring George Michael)!
In the post-credits scene, Deadpool name-drops Samuel L. Jackson (in an eye patch) and informs us that Deadpool 2 will (appropriately) feature Cable!
Obviously, I enjoyed Deadpool A LOT! This wasn’t an adaptation of any particular Deadpool story (other than his origin), but it was completely true to the spirit of the comics! Fox, and Ryan Reynolds, and Tim Miller, and Reese and Wernick got this character right in every possible way that they could! He was lewd, he was funny, he was obnoxious, he was damaged, he was mouthy, and he was heroic in a very anti-hero sort of way! It was perfect!
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Not only was Deadpool amazing, but all of the supporting characters were as well! Ajax was a dick and Weasel was awkwardly funny, and with Vanessa … they made a prostitute inspirational and likable, and I dare say lovable, and I just think that was amazing! This was a film with call girls and strippers and mercenaries and morally gray characters, and the actors and filmmakers made it all work in a way where you’re cheering for a lot of people that a huge portion of the viewing audience would not normally root for. I think Deadpool is beautiful in that way! It defies stereotypes and preconceived notions in so many cool ways and I really appreciate that!
I furthermore want to praise the emotion in this film! Not only are Wade and Vanessa a wonderful couple, but all of the stuff involving cancer was really well done. There was a deleted scene that I really regret got deleted, but overall, they nailed it. I lost my father to cancer at a very young age and at an age far too soon, I was subjected to the horrors of it all and ultimately subjected to the realities of death in a way that forever changed me. I just want to stress how moved I was by Wade’s desire to spare Vanessa all of that. This movie sort of stresses all of the ways in which Wade Wilson is not a hero, but it’s hard to deny how selfless and heroic he was in his decision to want to spare Vanessa from the “shit show” that cancer is.
From start to finish, from the credits to the music to the action to the acting to the humor and the emotion, Deadpool was superhero storytelling at its absolute best! While it is not my favorite comic book movie ever made, or even of 2016 (Captain America: Civil War gets that nod), it is to this day, my favorite of all of the Marvel films that Fox made and one of my favorite comic book movies of all-time.
After the Fox deal with Disney was announced, I was SO very concerned that Deadpool would be recast, and I am beyond thrilled that he wasn’t, and am SO looking forward to Marvel Studios’ Deadpool 3 in 2024! I understand that Ryan Reynolds can’t portray this character forever, but from the moment this film was released, I had dreams of seeing him interact with other MCU characters, and hopefully, we will get that if not in Deadpool 3, then in Avengers: Secret Wars!
Deadpool was a masterpiece. I cannot wait to see what comes next now that the Merc with a Mouth is home!
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Highlights of Deadpool:
Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool
Great Mix of Humor and Heart
Chemistry Between Ryan Reynolds and Morena Baccarin
Deadpool Costume, complete with Moving Eyes
Plenty of Blood and Gore
Fourth-Wall Breaking
R-Rating which allowed for plenty of Language and Violence
Blind Al!
Hydra Bob!
Dopinder!
References to other Films
Hilarious Title Cards and Credits Cartoon
Post-Credits Scene Promising Cable in the Sequel
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Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:
Deadpool serves as an origin story for a Universe of characters that are rumored to be set to be formally introduced in Marvel Studios’ upcoming film Deadpool 3, including, but not limited to the Merc with a Mouth himself, portrayed by Ryan Reynolds. This version of the Deadpool character is different from the version of the character that was introduced in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, though that version of the character (Weapon XI) is referenced in Deadpool. It’s best at this point to simply assume that the characters are loosely tied via the MCU Multiverse and Alternate Realitities and Branched Timelines, as further illustrated in Deadpool 2.
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