10 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Deadpool 1 & 2 Before His MCU Debut: With all the excitement building up to Deadpool’s MCU debut in Deadpool & Wolverine, many viewers will likely revisit his earlier film appearances, but they might not like everything they see.
Though the first two Deadpool movies still hold up very well, certain elements of them are less than stellar on repeat viewings. There are also some aspects of the movie that work very well in the context of the actual film but have come to be a bit of a letdown given the current state of the franchise.
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10 Harsh Realities Of Rewatching Deadpool 1 & 2 Before His MCU Debut
As the Deadpool movies transition over to the MCU, several key aspects of their identity will likely be lost in the move. Though the possibility of seeing Deadpool interact with the Avengers and other Marvel heroes is exciting, it is a little bittersweet when it means leaving some of the movies’ best aspects behind in the Fox X-Men universe. In some ways, knowing a Fox-led Deadpool 3 will never happen is a bit of a harsh reality in and of itself.
10. Ajax Is A Boring Deadpool Villain
Ajax being boring is somewhat of a self-aware joke in Deadpool. After all, a major punchline is the fact that he got his supervillain name from a brand of dish soap, and that his actual name is Francis. However, just because the movie acknowledges that Ajax is a boring villain, that doesn’t actually make him any less boring. And his catchphrase, “What’s my name?” starts to get pretty old.
Deadpool does make up for how boring Ajax is by giving Wade and the audience a very good reason to hate him. However, there’s no reason this role couldn’t have been filled by a slightly more interesting character.
Part of the issue could have been Deadpool’s relatively low budget for a superhero movie meant that the filmmakers couldn’t use an X-Men villain with more visually interesting powers, or even give Francis his metal armor from the comics.
9. Wade And Vanessa’s ‘Intimate’ Scenes Last Way Too Long
When Wade meets Vanessa in the first Deadpool movie, their date quickly leads to a prolonged montage of sex scenes on different holidays. The scene lasts about two minutes, over the course of which the novelty of the gag starts to wear off.
On repeat viewings, the sequence is even less enjoyable, given that the lack of initial shock factor. According to Vanessa’s actor Morena Baccarin, there were actually even more scenes filmed over two days. Luckily, the final film cut many of them, saving an already overly long joke from being even longer.
8. Deadpool 2 Fridged Vanessa
Comic books and related media have long had problems with the trope known as “fridging.” This refers to a story where a female character is killed just to motivate a male character, taking its name from the issue of Green Lantern when Kyle Rayner found his girlfriend Alex killed and stuffed in his refrigerator.
This trope is the exact kind of thing that Deadpool movies should mock about superhero stories, but instead, they indulge in it completely seriously.
Deadpool 2 starts with Wade’s fiancée Vanessa getting killed by a low-level villain. Instead of making this a self-referential joke about the nature of fridging, Deadpool 2 not only plays Vanessa’s death straight, but makes it the main driving force of the movie for Wade. It’s unfortunate to see a series that is usually so good about lampooning comic book tropes fall into one of the more problematic ones.
7. Colossus And Deadpool’s Other Friends Aren’t Coming To The MCU
Deadpool and, to an even greater extent, Deadpool 2 established a wide cast of lovable side characters for Deadpool to interact with. From ordinary people like Dopinder and Blind Al to mutants like Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Deadpool’s friends are just as much of an appeal for the movies as the Merc with a Mouth himself.
While these characters will be playing some role in Deadpool & Wolverine, it unfortunately seems like they won’t be joining Wade in the MCU.
Several years ago, a Disney report claimed that Deadpool would be the only mutant not getting recast. This means characters like Cable, Domino, and Colossus, who played major roles in the Deadpool series, won’t exist in the same form in the MCU. Though it’s nice that Deadpool will be sticking around, his MCU movies likely won’t feel the same without his core cast of characters.
6. The X-Force Tease Won’t Be Paid Off
Part of Deadpool’s supporting cast made up the team X-Force in Deadpool 2. Thanks to the success of Deadpool 2, Fox had originally planned to make an X-Force movie starring Deadpool, Cable, Domino, and some of their team members. Unfortunately, after Disney acquired Fox, plans for the movie were scrapped.
To make things worse, Zazie Beetz and Josh Brolin aren’t even returning for Deadpool & Wolverine, meaning there won’t be a solid conclusion to the X-Force movie’s setup.
5. Deadpool And Weasel’s Friendship Was Only On-Screen
Deadpool and Weasel have very strong on-screen chemistry in Deadpool and Deadpool 2. Their back and forths were so funny that the first movie even used one as a large part of the marketing campaign. Unfortunately, events from outside the movies have now made watching these scenes less enjoyable in hindsight.
T.J. Miller, who plays Weasel, was not asked to return for Deadpool & Wolverine. Though Marvel made no official statement as to why, it is likely due to multiple allegations made against Miller ranging from sexual misconduct to faking a bomb threat.
Add to this, Miller’s statements that he believes Ryan Reynolds does not like him and used improv sessions to insult him personally, and it becomes hard to suspend disbelief and believe their characters are actually good friends.
4. Fox Seemed Like It Was Finally Getting The X-Men Right
Between the success of the two Deadpool movies and the promise of a fun X-Force spin-off, Fox’s X-Men franchise was starting to look like it might be able to turn itself around. Logan was also a huge success for the studio, proving they could tell strong emotional stories with the X-Men as well as funny ones like Deadpool.
While Fox still had its fair share of X-Men failures like Dark Phoenix, there did seem to be hope that they were taking steps to correct this. Following Disney’s acquisition, all future plans for Fox’s X-Men slate were canceled in favor of preparing to move the characters into the MCU.
There were times when canceling Fox’s X-Men slate would have been met with universal approval, but in the wake of Deadpool 2 it was a bit of a disappointment. Still, the X-Men films had 18 years to develop, so it’s hard to argue they didn’t have a fair chance.
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3. Some Of Deadpool’s References Don’t Land
The Deadpool movies use many different styles of humor, but it’s hard to deny reference humor is a big part of their shtick. Reference humor isn’t inherently bad, and many of the references are probably timeless, like Deadpool saying “I’m Batman” when Cable asks who he is. However, other jokes have already aged out of relevance, while others will likely only continue to do so over time.
One example is Deadpool’s continual references to dubstep in Deadpool 2, which frankly felt a little dated even when the movie came out. References to things like the confusing X-Men movie timelines will also become less relevant as fewer audiences remember Fox’s full X-Men slate from years ago.
Comedy is always in danger of aging more than other genres, so this isn’t an inherent flaw with the Deadpool movies; it’s just a harsh reality to realize that, at some point, audiences might find them much less funny.
2. Firefist’s Comments On Plus-Sized Superheroes Still Ring True
The Deadpool movies have never shied away from criticizing aspects of the superhero genre. Some of these are minor critiques, like pointing out the inherent ridiculousness of superhero landings, while others are a bit more damning. One such example of a more substantive critique would be when Russell, aka Firefist, points out that he can’t be an X-Men because there are no plus-sized superheroes.
This is a solid critique by Deadpool 2 of the industry, especially since not all heroes have powers that would necessitate having a specific body type. Though there are some exceptions, for the most part, actors still seem to be expected to meet certain requirements when playing superheroes, with larger bodies being used as punchlines in movies like Avengers: Endgame or Black Widow.
Russell’s joke is still funny, but it’s also disappointing that superhero casting conventions haven’t changed despite being called out by a big movie.
1. Future Deadpool Movies Might Lack The Same Creative Freedom
Deadpool joining the MCU is very exciting in a lot of ways, but it is also a little concerning. Kevin Feige can be very strict when it comes to making sure MCU movies stay within certain boundaries. These limitations have even led some well-known directors like Edgar Wright to leave MCU projects partway through.
If future Deadpool movies aren’t allowed the same creative freedom as the Fox movies, this could make them feel much less unique and subversive. Even though it’s clear Deadpool & Wolverine will retain the Deadpool series’ signature style of crude humor, that is only one aspect of what made them fun.
If too many limits are put on what Deadpool can say and do for the sake of the wider MCU, it might make his movies feel a bit more flat and sterile.
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