Oh, Deadpool. An anti-hero in a league of his own, Wade Wilson manages to exist on the exosphere between properties, somehow dangling on the fringes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and equally shafted as an unfortunate hostage as 20th Century Fox creative licensing. Due in part as a crass outcast of his own making, Deadpool just doesn’t seem to play well with others. Well, maybe as an anti-hero he just doesn’t fit in like other superhero properties are able to (such as Spider-Man finally being granted MCU status by Sony or how the X-Men Universe lives and dies by Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine). Definitively, Deadpool is the ugly problem child that still manages to get as much love as the coveted popular kids, and that is what gives (and keeps giving) the merc with a mouth his charm and uniqueness.
Before we even saw Ryan Reynolds portray Deadpool in the 2016 self-titled film, in concept it seemed like something so impossible, so unlikely to happen, and even simply an untouchable path to traverse (particularly after Deadpool’s character assassination in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine). Nonetheless, Deadpool was delivered by Ryan Reynolds and then director Tim Miller with tremendous success. Finally, a superhero character so anti-establishment, so anti-status quo, even so anti-superhero, that if the merc with a mouth was somehow made member of Tyler Durden’s Fight Club, he would break the first rule before you could even ask, “What is the first rule of Fight Club?”
Well, if you didn’t get your fill from the first overly-violent, overly-indulgent, and tremendously self-referential anti-hero crusade, Ryan Reynolds and company are back at it again in Deadpool 2 (2018). This time, director David Leith (known for Atomic Blonde and John Wick) brings double the Deadpool, including double the inside jokes, triple the Hugh Jackman/Wolverine bullying, and quadruple the meta, fourth-wall-breaking comedy than ever before considered possible. While in many ways it is still the same shtick as the first go around, we now have director David Leith at the helm with a sequel that manages to show us a new side of Deadpool we haven’t seen on-screen before. While Tim Miller’s first iteration clearly teaches us that Deadpool just can’t seem to be a team player, David Leith shows us with Deadpool 2 that when forced to buddy up and get the job done, ol’ DP must do it his way, and in style. This team-building mentality creates new interesting character dynamics and expands upon the anti-hero in ways that his on-screen counterpart Cable (played by Avengers: Inifnity War’s Thanos as John Brolin) would find it hard not to relent that Deadpool is more than “just an annoying clown dressed up as a sex toy.”
TABLE SETTING/FIRST-ACT [Spoilers Ahead]
Speaking of Cable, fans of the comics know him as a time-traveling warrior from the distant future, transported back to enact revenge on those that have wronged him. Turns out, this T13/Terminator-style baddie finds himself hunting down a volatile mutant that Deadpool happens to cross paths with, causing some interesting rippling of events to transpire for all parties involved. Let’s rewind, shall we? After a calamitous cold-open (and a blatant fridging) for our merc with a mouth, Wade Wilson is thrown into despair and must find new purpose in the process. This leads our disfigured assassin back to the (still empty) halls of the X-Mansion to have a talk with the only X-Men (Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and new-face Yukio) 20th Century Fox allows Deadpool to commune with (a power-packed and likely crazy expensive cameo heavy-handedly nods to this as well). Anyways, Colossus in all his dense (pun intended) stupidity insists that Deadpool must find new meaning as an X-Men Trainee, as to enact some purer justice – with the caveat that the assassin plays nice and doesn’t kill anyone this time around.
Deadpool’s first mission goes about as well as imagined. In the scuffle however, he manages to find some common ground with an unlikely mutant – the same individual Cable intends on pulverizing upon return from the future. Once the overly-dramatic time-traveler manages to track his target down (after killing some rednecks and chugging more than a few Budweiser), Cable has a dramatic first encounter with Deadpool and an epic throw down between the two ensues. After the explosive scuffle leaves everyone scattered, Deadpool realizes he needs to put a team of his own together to even the odds. Since he went and burned all his X-Men bridges already, Deadpool must leans on his bartending buddy Weasel (the best character name for T.J. Miller maybe ever) to help devise a recruiting strategy that will protect his new mutant passion project from the grips of the all-too-dark (are you sure you’re not from the DC Universe?) Cable that will stop at nothing to rewrite his bleak future. This time, its Deadpool and his half-cocked, hodge-podge team now known as the X-Force chosen to overcome all odds and prevent Cable from prevailing in his warpath of revenge.
DIRECTION, DISSECTION & VERDICT
The X-Force team-up (as well as their subsequent mission) may be the biggest bang of the film and marks the half-way point for Deadpool 2, driving the second-half to new high points of hilarity and helping to deliver on more over-indulgent action sequences sure to excite the 8-year-old comic-fan at heart. The X-Force sequence also highlights one of the more captivating characters in Deadpool 2, who goes by the name of Domino (played by Zazie Beetz). Known for her role as Vanessa in FX’s Atlanta series, Beetz leads an exciting, commanding, and solidly comedic performance as the lucky mutant Domino; her X-Force presence confidently confirms that it will not be the last of her character shown on the big screen. Surprisingly, she is one of the funniest characters in Deadpool 2, and in truth one must really deliver if they want to be able to hang with the likes of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and the newly introduced Cable. Cable (Josh Brolin) in turn truly manages to deliver as the gruff no-nonsense type – not only as a vigilante style bad-ass, but as a solid straight man that compliments Ryan Reynold’s clown-like Deadpool quite dynamically in their double act. Brolin settles into the shoes as another Marvel character quite seamlessly, even though Wade Wilson can’t help himself from calling Cable nicknames such as Thanos or even “One-Eyed Willie” (shout-out to The Goonies) at various points throughout the film.
Deadpool 2 plays out a bit like a ska record – the lyrics may read at times overly-dark, self-deprecating, or even flat-out depressing, but the overall tone of the film is supremely jovial, fun-loving, and even uplifting. That’s the charm of Deadpool: Wade Wilson is very much damaged (there is no doubt about that), and comedy is his outlet, resulting in a film packed to the brim with inside-jokes that work within its own self-defined universe (who needs the MCU or the A-list X-Men when you’re Deadpool anyways). Much like any successful stand-up comic, humor is many times derived from a dysfunctional or even traumatic origin; if you take a peak at Ryan Reynolds cinematic super-hero origins within the last ten years, one can see a lot of similarities (and a whole heap of dysfunction). Ryan Reynolds’ imprint on the entirety of Deadpool 2, the origin film (no, not that origin film), and on the Deadpool character in general won’t be forgotten when it comes to superhero cinematic satire.
In truth, Ryan Reynolds is the ultimate Deadpool, just as much as Hugh Jackman is the quintessential Wolverine (truly making Deadpool’s love/hate relationship with Jackman that much more tremendous). Even though Ryan Reynolds has only brought us but two Deadpool films, he has made a pseudo mini-verse that holds its own in a self-deprecating and outwardly satirical kind of way, by attempting to make fun of all the formal and mainstream ones in the process. Particularly after Deadpool 2’s tremendous mid-credit scenes, (which trump all the MCU’s as my new favorites), the Deadpool-verse continues to make its own rules and deepens its comfort in what it is – a self-contained and contented cult of personality among the Captain America’s and Batman’s of the world. Even if there is no Deadpool 3 on the horizon (how could there not be?) and you’re losing hope of seeing more of your favorite anti-hero in the future, don’t forget: “keep your pants dry, your dreams wet, and remember, hugs not drugs.”
Deadpool 2 (2018) is currently in theaters.
Millennial Movie Man 