20th Century Studios
DEADPOOL 2
Starring Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson / Deadpool), Josh Brolin (Cable), Morena Baccarin (Vanessa), Zazie Beetz (Domino), T.J. Miller (Weasel), and Julian Dennison (Russell Collins / Firefist)
Directed by David Leitch
Produced by Simon Kinberg, Ryan Reynolds, and Lauren Shuler Donner
Written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Ryan Reynolds
Music By Tyler Bates
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 1 hour and 59 minutes
World Premier: May 10, 2018, London, England
Opening Weekend Box Office: $125 million (United States)
Worldwide Box Office: $785 million
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%
20th Century Studios
Fun Deadpool 2 Facts
The inclusion of Cable in Deadpool 2 was confirmed in-character by Deadpool during the post-credits scene of 2016’s Deadpool. The time traveling warrior version of Cable debuted in New Mutants # 87 in March of 1990 and was created by Rob Liefeld and Louise Simonson. Cable was later revealed to be Nathan Summers; the grown-up child of Scott Summers and Madelyne Pryor. Nathan debuted in The Uncanny X-Men # 201 in January of 1986 and was created by Chris Claremont and Rick Leonardi. Young Nathan was infected by a techno-organic virus and consequently sent into the future where he could be treated for his illness. He later returns to the past in a time before his own birth where he is an ally of The X-Men.
Cable is closely tied to Deadpool in the Marvel comics. Deadpool was introduced as an enemy of Cable in his very first appearance (New Mutants # 98). Deadpool and Cable would go on to share an ongoing Marvel Comics title (Cable and Deadpool) that spanned 50-issues from 2004-2008. The series was written by Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza and achieved a significant amount of critical acclaim.
Domino was created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, and she technically debuted alongside Deadpool in New Mutants # 98 (she was actually being impersonated by Copycat – Vanessa – at that time). Domino’s abilities in the comics are described as being a form of subconscious telekinetic probability manipulation. She also boasts enhanced reflexes and agility, is an expert marksman, and is an expert martial artist. In the comics, Domino has pale white skin and a dark circle around her left eye. With the casting of Zazie Beetz in Deadpool 2, Domino was made over to boast dark skin with a pale circle around her eye.
Deadpool 2 introduces “X-Force” in a largely comedic (and somewhat tragic) way. X-Force was yet another concept devised by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld. The team debuted in 1991’s New Mutants # 100 and the first version of the team was led by Cable. In Deadpool 2, X-Force is comprised of mutants Domino, Bedlam (Terry Crews), Shatterstar (Lewis Tan), Zeitgeist (Bill Skarsgard), and Vanisher (Brad Pitt), and a normal human named Peter (Rob Delaney). Cable and Deadpool lead the team. Everyone but Peter (of course) have been members of X-Force at some time or another in the comics.
Deadpool Director Tim Miller was originally expected to direct Deadpool 2, but he left the project due to a clash with Ryan Reynolds that was described as “Creative Differences.” The casting of Cable was reportedly an issue, as was Reynolds’ desire to lean more forwardly in to the “raunchy comedy style” that landed the first Deadpool film its R-rating. Miller’s version of the film reportedly would have seen Vanessa become Copycat and would have featured a big fight between The Juggernaut and The Thing of The Fantastic Four. It is unknown exactly who would have portrayed / voiced The Thing, but this was a crossover that was approved by Fox executives.
20th Century Studios
Interestingly, another member of The Fantastic Four was sought to be included in the film as well: Johnny Storm / The Human Torch. Reportedly, Johnny would have been one of the heroes interviewing for a spot with X-Force, and the scene would have seen Chris Evans reprising his role from the 2005 and 2007 Fantastic Four films.
David Leitch was ultimately chosen to direct Deadpool 2, largely due to the success of 2014’s John Wick on which Leitch served as a Producer and an uncredited Director.
Deadpool’s affection for Russell / Firefist in Deadpool 2 is a callback to Wade’s unique relationship with a young version of Apocalypse in the Marvel Comics, whom he could not bring himself to kill due to the fact that he’d yet to do any of the things that he was so feared and hated for ultimately doing. In Deadpool 2, Wade will not allow Cable to kill Russell for similar reasons.
In the briefest of cameos, several X-Men appear in Deadpool 2 while Deadpool is complaining about how no one is ever in the mansion, unbeknownst to the character. These include James McAvoy as Charles Xavier / Professor X, Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy / Beast, Evan Peters as Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver, Tye Sheridan as Scott Summers / Cyclops, Alexandra Shipp as Ororo Munroe / Storm, and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler. These cameos officially establish Deadpool as existing (at least in that moment) in the Altered Reality that was created through time travel in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Hugh Jackman’s credits appearance as Wolverine was created through archived footage, so Deadpool 2 does not count as part of his official filmography as the Wolverine character.
20th Century Studios
In addition to starring as Wade Wilson / Deadpool in Deadpool 2, Ryan Reynolds also voiced The Juggernaut.
Actor TJ Miller (Weasel) became a subject of tremendous controversy following the release of Deadpool at the end of 2017. Miller was arrested for allegedly assaulting an Uber driver in 2016. After that, allegations against Miller from his college days resurfaced and after that, he was accused of transphobia due to an email. From there, Miller was arrested on charges of making a false bomb threat while aboard an Amtrak train. The bomb threat charges were ultimately dismissed. Due to this string of events, TJ Miller’s involvement in Deadpool 2 was a highly controversial element of the film. Deadpool 2 filmed from June-October in 2017, and Fox ultimately decided to keep Miller’s scenes in the film due to its Summer-2018 release.
On December 17, 2017, The Walt Disney Company announced that it had agreed on a deal with 20th Century Fox that would see Disney acquire Fox’s television and film divisions, among other things. The historic deal was for a reported $54 billion and promised to bring Deadpool (and The X-Men and The Fantastic Four with him) into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Deadpool 2 had already concluded filming at the time the deal was announced, but several jokes were shot for the movie following the announcement that pertained to the MCU and that referenced Disney (such as the recurring Frozen song gag). Notable MCU characters referenced in Deadpool 2 include The Winter Soldier, Black Widow, and Thanos. Josh Brolin (Cable) portrayed Thanos in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.
Deadpool 2 boasted another remarkable marketing campaign that saw Ryan Reynolds portray the character for several trailer teases and releases. Stan Lee appeared in a trailer tease that featured Deadpool changing into his costume inside a phone booth before arriving too late to stop the murderous mugging of a man. Ryan Reynolds also spoofed Bob Ross in another memorable Deadpool vignette. On top of these, there was another series of unconventional billboards and movie posters that promoted the film, and Reynolds worked social media once again in-character.
Deadpool 2 was one of four Marvel films that were produced in 2018, but Deadpool 2 was made without any input from Marvel Studios, despite the announcement of the Fox deal at the end of 2017. Marvel Studios produced Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Ant-Man and The Wasp in 2018. Avengers: Infinity War ($2 billion) and Black Panther ($1.3 billion) were the # 1 and # 2 highest-grossing films of 2018. Deadpool 2 ($785 million) was the ninth highest-grossing film of the year and outperformed Ant-Man and The Wasp ($622 million). Deadpool 2 furthermore emerged as the highest-grossing Fox X-Men film of all time, eclipsing the first Deadpool film by $3 million.
20th Century Studios / The Walt Disney Company
On July 27, 2018, Fox shareholders unanimously approved Disney’s acquisition, and the deal was finalized on March 20, 2019, making Deadpool 2 the final Fox X-Men film distributed by 20th Century Studios with no involvement from The Walt Disney Company. Fox had already wrapped production on two more X-Men films: Dark Phoenix and New Mutants. Both films were originally scheduled to be released in 2018 but were delayed. The forthcoming launch of the Disney+ streaming service was reportedly one of the key factors in Disney’s decision to make the Fox purchase.
On August 21, 2018, an extended cut of Deadpool 2 titled The Super-Duper Cut was released on Blu-ray. This version of the film restored several sequences of Deadpool trying to commit suicide, featured additional jokes, and added to the memorable post-credits time-traveling sequence including Deadpool saving Peter’s life and an extended “Baby Hitler” scene.
In December of 2018, Deadpool 2 was re-released theatrically as an edited PG-13 version titled Once Upon a Deadpool and featuring actor Fred Savage.
On November 12, 2019, The Walt Disney Company launched the Disney+ streaming service in the United States. In the Summer of 2020, several Fox X-Men films debuted on the Disney+ service.
On Tuesday, July 13, 2021, Ryan Reynolds and Taika Waititi unveiled a trailer for the upcoming film Free Guy (starring Reynolds and directed by Waititi) in the form of a promotional short with Reynolds in-character as Deadpool and Waititi in-character as Korg (whom he portrayed in the Marvel Studios films Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame). During the vignettes, Deadpool asks Korg how he can get into the MCU. Free Guy (released on August 13, 2021) ended up directly referencing the MCU, complete with a cameo by Chris Evans, who portrayed Steve Rogers / Captain America in ten Marvel Studios films from 2011-2019, who humorously reacts to the sight of Reynolds’ character wielding a version of Captain America’s shield.
20th Century Studios / Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
On October 1, 2021, with the release of Sony Pictures’ Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the MCU was changed forever as Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock / Venom was transported into the MCU 616-Universe (the Sacred Timeline) from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. This was the first official instance of a character crossing over from one Cinematic Universe into the MCU, complete with its previously established history. This trend continued in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which saw Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker, Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn, Alfred Molina’s Otto Octavius, Thomas Hayden Chruch’s Sandman, Rhys Ifans’ Lizard, and Jamie Fox’s Max Dillon all getting transported into the MCU as well from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. These events set the precedent for Deadpool’s eventual arrival into the MCU from the Fox X-Men Universe.
On July 22, 2022, Deadpool and Deadpool 2 became available to stream on the Disney+ platform in the United States; the first R-rated titles (along with Logan) to appear on the service.
On September 27, 2022, actor Ryan Reynolds publicly announced that Deadpool 3 would be produced by Marvel Studios and released on September 6, 2024, officially bringing Deadpool into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Reynolds furthermore announced that Hugh Jackman would return to the role of Wolverine for the film. The third Deadpool movie would eventually be named Deadpool and Wolverine.
The Fox X-Men film Universe is more than a little complicated, and things were even further complicated with the introduction of Deadpool. Now, Deadpool is coming to the MCU, and that means he is bringing all of that complex history and all of those complex character traits with him. Getting a grip on how Deadpool works as a character within a Cinematic world is quite convoluted 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 both Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds as actors and of Logan and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as films (and the DC Universe as well). In Deadpool 2, Deadpool possesses a Wolverine action figure that he has impaled on a stick in a reenactment of the character’s death in Logan. Deadpool also audibly chastises Logan for stealing his thunder so to speak, in having a movie be made that revolved around the character’s death. In narration style, Deadpool promises to die himself in Deadpool 2, setting up the dark parallels between the two films, which while somewhat similar in terms of narrative, are drastically different.
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 his films. 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 his films, Deadpool knows who Ryan Reynolds is, but he does not seem to understand that he is Ryan Reynolds, though he does seem to understand that he resembles Reynolds in an uncanny way. In Deadpool 2, Wade goes so far as to actually sign his autograph as “Ryan Reynolds.”
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 produced. 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.
20th Century Studios
Deadpool 2 was a film that revolved around Time Travel. Cable came from a dystopian future that was several years away from happening and he travels back in time in an effort to change that future. Within the continuity of the Fox X-Men films, this was proven to be possible in X-Men: Days of Future Past. In that film, the consciousness of Wolverine was sent back through time into his past body while his current body remained in the future from whence he came. Cable on the other hand, travels back through time with both his mind and body intact. The way Time Travel works within the X-Men Universe is obviously different than how it works in the MCU 616-Universe. The Fox films utilize plot devices such as Butterfly Effects and Time Loops, while the Marvel Studios films primarily operate under the premise of Branched Timelines. In Avengers: Endgame, it was clearly stated that one cannot travel to the past to change their future, because that past becomes your future and your former present becomes your past, which can’t now be changed by your new future. However, both Wolverine and Cable utilized Time Travel to do that very thing, as evident by the visual erasure of the future that Wolverine knew in Days of Future Past and by the restoring of the tattered stuffed animal belonging to his daughter that Cable brought back from the future that he knew.
From there, Deadpool made multiple changes to the past, present, and future during the Deadpool 2 credits, after he commandeered Cable’s Time Travel device to traverse the X-Men Timeline. In his Time Traveling venture, Deadpool saves the life of Vanessa, saves the lives of Peter and other members of X-Force, kills Weapon XI (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), kills Ryan Reynolds before he can make Green Lantern, and visits Baby Hitler. Assuming that Wade could not bring himself to actually kill a baby (an act that would have a drastic effect on Magneto’s life), Deadpool still successfully changed many aspects of the future; so many in fact, he has pretty much changed the future in such a way that it’s as if much of Deadpool 2 now never happened – though Wade Wilson would still remember that it did. Time Travel!
In 2024’s Marvel Studios film Deadpool and Wolverine, the first-ever Deadpool or Wolverine (solo) film under the Marvel Studios banner, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool is the same version of the character that he portrayed in Deadpool and Deadpool 2, and this fact pretty much canonizes all thirteen of Fox’s Deadpool, X-Men, and Wolverine films via the Multiverse.
20th Century Studios
My Deadpool 2 Review
Deadpool 2 had two very difficult tasks. First, it had to follow the first Deadpool film. Then, it had to follow Logan. The first Deadpool film was a superhero movie unlike any that anyone had ever seen that boasted a very unique superhero character in the raunchy, foul-mouthed, and violent Wade Wilson. It was fresh and different, and this made it very endearing to critics and audience members alike. Then came Logan; another R-rated film. It was dark and heavy, and it was a superhero masterpiece that defied genre and character stereotypes. In other words, Deadpool 2 had a couple of tough acts to follow!
In terms of plot, Deadpool 2 took a similarly dark approach to Logan. That film more or less revolved around Wolverine’s death and explored his desire to die, and Deadpool 2 explores those same things. In fact, Wade Wilson makes it no secret. He wants to die, but he has this Wolverine-like regenerative healing factor that will not allow him to. He cannot simply off himself. He tries. Redundantly. Nothing works.
The reason that Wade wants to die revolves around the death of his beloved Vanessa. Their romance helped make the first film SO special, and her death landed Wade in a place of absolute hopelessness and despair. Part of that was due to the fact that he just didn’t want to live in a world without her. Another part of it was the guilt that he felt over blaming himself for her death.
Again, this sets Deadpool 2 up with a really complex juggling act, as this becomes another dark and heavy film that tries to be funny and raunchy at the same time, and this does not benefit the movie. The removal of Vanessa consequently removed a lot of the emotion and heart from this film that existed in the first one. Their chemistry was incredible, and here, we are relegated to a mere couple of (presumed) afterlife scenes between the two following her death.
So, that leaves the comedy and violence to carry this movie.
20th Century Studios
Admittedly, it does a fine job of it! There are some really great fights from beginning to end with all of the gore and slicing and stabbing and shooting that one could hope for! The opening sequence of Deadpool’s world tour and his fight against the thugs in the warehouse was pretty incredible and Deadpool’s first fight against Cable was awesome, and of course, the end of the film has all kinds of action! Deadpool vs The Juggernaut, Colossus vs The Juggernaut, Cable vs everyone was pretty much awesome, and Domino’s powers were executed wonderfully throughout!
As for humor, there was plenty! I thought the X-Force stuff was hilarious! I loved Peter as a character and Brad Pitt as Vanisher was priceless! All of the deaths were grizzly and ridiculous, and it was all in good fun! The fourth wall breaks were funny and all of the references to other films were awesome; DC and Marvel alike. Ryan Reynolds was as great as ever as Deadpool in every way that he could be! He was the living embodiment of the character throughout, and I really liked Josh Brolin as Cable and Zazie Beets as Domino.
I guess the problems for me come in with Russell and that entire plot. I mean, Cable coming back from the future to kill Russell for murdering his family made sense, and I was fine with that. It was Deadpool’s relationship with Russell that didn’t quite land with me. As a father, I totally get what they were trying to accomplish and where they were trying to go with it. Deadpool’s relationship with Russell was supposed to replace the heart and emotion and chemistry that we lost with Vanessa. Problem was, Russell wasn’t really likable. Like, at all. He was rude, obnoxious, and whiny and I understand that he was abused and was a child with anger issues and all of that stuff … he just wasn’t a good character and that made him very hard to cheer for, which sort of made Deadpool hard to cheer for at times. That was a bit of a miss for me.
In a nutshell, Deadpool loses Vanessa but saves Russell and makes some new friends in the process. Cable saving Deadpool was a nice touch and Deadpool’s supposed death scene was WAY too long (but I did like that the same music from Logan was used), but his too brief reunion with Vanessa in the afterlife was beautiful, and the child-molesting bible-thumping priest got killed by Dopinder and that was great, and then, the Time Travel stuff was just bonkers!
By no means did I hate Deadpool 2; it is undeniably funny and entertaining, and it was so entertaining in fact, that it still landed in my Top-5 Fox X-Men films. Again, I LOVE Deadpool, and I can sit back and watch Ryan Reynolds do his thing as Wade Wilson and never be bored! That makes this an easy two-hour watch for me, despite its flaws. I just felt the first film had style and substance and this one just came up a bit short of the original as it was a lot of rehashing and a lot more juvenile. Again, not all bad by any means, but just a step down from Deadpool and Logan, two films that this movie makes sure you’re thinking about the whole time that you’re watching it, for better or worse.
20th Century Studios
Highlights of Deadpool 2:
Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool
Wade and Vanessa’s afterlife Reunion
The Many References to Logan
X-Men Trainee Sequence
References to the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Amazing Credits Sequences
Seeing Cable and Domino in live action
Humor
Blood and Gore
Fourth-Wall Breaking
Time Traveling Credits Sequence
Leave a Reply