Deadpool (film)

The vigilante Deadpool, Wade Wilson ambushes Ajax and his convoy on an expressway. Throughout the ambush, Wade shows the viewer the events leading to how he became Deadpool. After being dishonorably discharged from the Canadian special forces, Wade works as a freelance mercenary until he meets a sex worker named Vanessa. They become romantically involved, and a year later, she accepts his marriage proposal. Wade is later diagnosed with terminal cancer and is approached by a mysterious recruiter who offers him an experimental treatment that will heal his cancer. Wade leaves Vanessa so she will not have to watch him die. He is taken to a laboratory run by Ajax and Angel Dust, who injects him with a serum designed to awaken latent mutant genes in his body. They subject Wade to days of torture to trigger any mutation but to no avail. When Wade discovers Ajax's real name is Francis and mocks him for it, Ajax leaves Wade in a hypobaric chamber that periodically takes him to the verge of asphyxiation over a weekend. This activates a regenerative healing factor that counteracts Wade's cancer but leaves him severely disfigured with burn-like tumors all over his body. He escapes from the chamber and attacks Ajax but relents when told his condition can be cured. In the chaos, Ajax subdues Wade and leaves him for dead. Wade survives due to his new healing factor and seeks out Vanessa but does not reveal that he is alive out of fear that she will shun him because of his new scarred appearance. After consulting with his best friend Weasel, Wade decides to hunt down Ajax for the cure. He becomes a vigilante, adopting the name "Deadpool" (from Weasel picking him in a dead pool), and moves into the home of an elderly blind woman named Al. Throughout the following year, he questions and kills many of Ajax's associates until one, the recruiter, reveals Ajax's whereabouts. This information allows Wade to enact the ambush. He kills all of Ajax's henchmen, subdues Ajax, and demands the cure, but the X-Men Colossus and his trainee Negasonic Teenage Warhead interrupt him. Colossus attempts to convince Wade to mend his ways and join the X-Men, but Wade turns him down. Taking advantage of this distraction, Ajax escapes and regroups with Angel Dust. They then head to Weasel's bar, where Ajax hears of Vanessa. Ajax kidnaps Vanessa and takes her to a decommissioned Helicarrier in a scrapyard. In response, Wade convinces Colossus and Negasonic to help him get her back. They battle Angel Dust and a group of Ajax's men while Wade fights his way to Ajax. During the battle, Negasonic accidentally destroys the supports keeping the Helicarrier stable. Deadpool protects Vanessa as the ship collapses around them, while Colossus carries Negasonic and Angel Dust to safety. Ajax attacks Wade again but is overpowered. He reveals that there is no cure, and despite Colossus's pleas, Wade kills Ajax. Vanessa angrily berates Wade for leaving her but reconciles with him after she sees his disfigured face and learns the reason why he never came back to her. In a post-credits scene, Wade imitates the post-credits scene of ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'', stating they only have enough money left to announce that Cable will show up in the sequel and making casting suggestions for the character. ==Cast==

|alt=refer to caption • Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool:A wisecracking mercenary with accelerated healing, but severe scarring over his body after undergoing an experimental cancer treatment. • T.J. Miller as Weasel:Wilson's best friend. • Stefan Kapičić as the voice of Colossus:An X-Men who can transform his entire body into organic steel. Fillion would later voice Headpool in the 2024 sequel, Deadpool & Wolverine. ==Production==

Development Artisan Entertainment announced a deal with Marvel Entertainment in May 2000 to co-produce, finance, and distribute several films based on Marvel Comics' characters, including Deadpool. The film was released later in 2011 and was a critical and commercial disappointment. This tainted the Deadpool project. Fox executives were already concerned about its R-rated content. After several meetings the studio agreed the film could not be reconfigured for a more traditional PG-13 rating, and gave Miller "a low-six-figure budget" to produce some test footage. Writing Reese and Wernick wrote a draft of the script every year for six years before completing the film, The character Cable was also set to appear, but was eventually pushed to a potential sequel so this film could "get Deadpool on his feet" first. The writers worked to keep the script's pop-culture references up-to-date throughout its development. Kinberg confirmed the film would make fun of Deadpool's portrayal in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It also includes jokes at the expense of Green Lantern. While Miller felt it was okay for audience members not to understand all of the film's jokes, he wanted to avoid anything targeted specifically at comic fans. He was not in favor of any joke the audience "needs to look up on the internet" after the movie ends. The film's post-credits scene is a parody of the equivalent scene from ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), where the title character of that film breaks the fourth wall like Deadpool. In the parody scene, Deadpool wears a bath robe and tells the audience to go home. He also confirms that Cable will appear in the sequel. After reading the scene, a Fox executive described the film as a combination of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Natural Born Killers'' (1994), a description the writers felt was accurate. Forty-eight hours before the film received the official green light from Fox, the studio cut its budget by $7–$8 million down to $58 million. This forced a last minute re-write that saw about nine pages cut from the 110-page script. Changes included the removal of a motorcycle chase at the end of the Twelve Bullets Fight and having Deadpool forget his bag of guns before the final battle sequence to avoid having to shoot a costly gun fight in the third act. Reese said, "It was that last, lean and mean chop that got us to a place where Fox was willing to make it. The script was very efficient and not too long. That was a function of budget more than anything, but I think it really made the movie pace nicely." Pre-production In January 2015, T.J. Miller and Ed Skrein were in talks to appear in the film, with Miller as "an additional comic voice" and Skrein as a villain. A month later, Fox was testing actresses to portray the female lead, including Morena Baccarin, Taylor Schilling, Crystal Reed, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Sarah Greene, and Jessica De Gouw. Gina Carano was cast as Angel Dust, and Miller was confirmed for an unspecified role. Baccarin was cast as Deadpool's love interest before the end of February. Colossus actor Daniel Cudmore said he would not be reprising the role for Deadpool, and declined an offer to provide reference for a CG version of the character to be voiced by another actor. An immediate focus during pre-production was Deadpool's suit. Russ Shinkle and Film Illusions were hired to create the costume. Shinkle noted that "comic book art is fairly over the top in terms of physique", and he tried to balance that with reality. Reynolds did not wear a muscle suit under the costume, which Tim Miller felt gave it a slimmer, "quintessential Deadpool" look. Miller and Reynolds wept when they saw the completed costume. Reynolds explained, "we fought like hell... to make this the most faithful comic book to movie adaptation fans have ever seen. That's hard to accomplish and a feat, but we're just so happy with how this came out." The costume was designed with the film's stunts in mind. The mask's eye areas were removable so versions of the eyes better suited for the stunts could be used without having to change the whole mask. The suit was difficult for the visual effects team to replicate with CGI. Visual effects supervisor Jonathan Rothbart blamed this on the suit's fabric. He described it as mesh that allowed dirt to "get into the gutters and the cracks... [so when] the light hits it, it still takes that orangey hue but as soon as it goes in the shadow it dropped to this more blueish of the dirt." Film Illusions made six hero versions of the costume and twelve stunt-specific versions, along with three hero versions of Negasonic Teenage Warhead's costume. Miller wanted Deadpool's scarred appearance to make him appear "fucking horrible" to justify his anger. Makeup designer Bill Corso had some leeway because in the comics "he's everything from a rotten corpse to a guy with a couple of lines on his face". Corso acknowledged the script's description of the character as "disfigured" but also wanted him to be "kind of charming and iconic". He wanted to avoid comparisons with Freddy Krueger and looked to Sin City (2005) for inspiration. The final makeup required nine silicone prosthetics to cover Reynolds' head, which took several hours to apply. For the scene where the character is naked, it took six hours to apply Reynolds' full-body makeup. Corso described the makeup for the rest of the film's characters as "pretty simple. Tim wanted to keep it really grounded." Filming Principal photography began on March 23, 2015, in Vancouver, British Columbia, under the working title Wham!. Filming took place at North Shore Studios and on location around the city. The production hired more than 2,000 locals as actors, extras and crew members. T. J. Miller and Baccarin were revealed to be playing Weasel and Vanessa, respectively. Skrein confirmed he was in the film, playing Ajax. Newcomer Brianna Hildebrand was cast as Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Tim Miller and cinematographer Ken Seng wanted the film to look "grittier and less clean and glossy" than other superhero films. They decided to shoot with digital cameras but add film grain in post-production to give the images texture. Seng used Super Baltar lenses and Cooke zooms for the origin story timeline, and Panavision Primo lenses for the Deadpool scenes which gave them more clarity. The film's exterior scenes have a consistent overcast look, but location shooting came with "unpredictable" weather. For instance, the production had use of the Georgia Viaduct for two weeks and shot rain or shine before their permit expired. Seng used more lighting on cloudy days and less on sunny days to keep a consistent look. Production designer Sean Haworth, who had specific ideas for the sets, also worked closely with Miller. The production had to be very specific about which elements of each set were constructed to conserve the budget for visual effects. For the final scrapyard scene, garbage was built to a certain height to be extended with CGI. A gimbal was used for a tilting section of the yard that had to interact with many digital elements. The final sequence was filmed in a naval yard dressed with scrap metal. Rubber casts of the metal were made for stunts. When Fox was unwilling to pay Reese and Wernick to be on set every day, Reynolds paid their salaries. The writers had scripted the action very specifically, "every kill and almost down to every punch, kick, or shot", but Tim Miller and the stunt coordinators were free to change this. Robert Alonzo and Philip J. Silvera were the film's stunt coordinators; Silvera had provided motion capture reference for the test footage. The stunt team had a month before filming began to prepare the actors. Skrein worked "nonstop" to prepare. Silvera said Reynolds "has a photographic memory; he'd do something three or four times and remember it very well." A lot of the film's jokes were improvised on set, particularly by Reynolds. He said the actors often came up with around 15 alternate jokes for each one in the script, and were generally only limited to those because of time constraints. For example, Reese said Wernick had written some jokes for the scene where Deadpool visits Colossus and Negasonic. Instead Reynolds improvised the line on set, "It's funny that I only ever see two of you. It's almost like the studio couldn't afford another X-Men." This was based in truth and became then Fox chairman Jim Gianopulos's favorite line. Filming ended on May 29. Post-production Leslie Uggams said that she was in the film in July 2015 playing the role of Blind Al. Tim Miller stated that Jed Rees portrays "The Recruiter", and "did a good job of being creepy and syrupy sweet". Miller explained that Colossus would be a solely CGI creation in the film, with Andre Tricoteux cast to provide motion reference on set for the role along with the voice. In December, the voice of Colossus was recast, with Stefan Kapičić taking over the role. He completed his work eight weeks before the film was scheduled for release. As soon as editor Julian Clarke began selecting shots for the film, they were color graded by EFILM's Tim Stipan to ensure they all matched. Stipan colored the characters slightly differently. He gave Deadpool a "dark, modern touch" and Colossus a "particular vibrancy and substance". Clarke edited each scene focusing on humor, choosing between alternate takes of jokes. He removed jokes made after Vanessa is kidnapped because they felt inappropriately timed. He cut down other scenes with fewer jokes, such as Wilson being tortured, as they were "too much". It would take the audience "too long to recover [and] get back in the irreverent spirit of the movie." During editing, a linear version of the film was produced. Clarke decided to go with interweaving the timelines to balance the different serious and silly tones. One sequence removed from the film saw Wilson and Vanessa travel to Mexico looking for a cure after he turned down The Recruiter. It was removed for pacing reasons and replaced with a short scene of Wilson sitting beside his window that was originally filmed to show him thinking about his diagnosis. In its new context the scene implies him re-thinking The Recruiter's offer. Because of the animation required for Deadpool's mask and Colossus, Reese and Wernick had more freedom than usual to keep adjusting the script during post-production. Reynolds recorded new dialogue using his iPhone, and then re-recorded the lines in an additional dialogue recording session once the film was finalized. Lines added after filming included Reynolds doing an impression of Wolverine star Hugh Jackman's natural Australian accent, and another where Deadpool asks whether the character Professor X is being portrayed by James McAvoy or Patrick Stewart at that point in the X-Men timeline. This became a favorite line in the film for many audience members. Visual effects Digital Domain (DD), Atomic Fiction, Blur Studio, Weta Digital, Rodeo FX, and Luma Pictures produced Deadpools visual effects. Reynolds credited Miller and his visual effects experience with producing a film that looked like others made with bigger budgets. Motion capture supervisor Greg LaSalle agreed, noting that Miller held off working on the CGI for Colossus until after the film was edited to avoid spending money on shots that would not be used. Miller worked with visual effects supervisor Jonathan Rothbart to design and complete the film's 1500 effects shots—700 more than originally planned. 800 of them were completed in the last four weeks of production. Colossus's movements were re-recorded with performer T. J. Storm, as Tricoteux had been unable to move athletically because of the platform shoes he wore on set to replicate the character's height. LaSalle was used for his facial performance. DD mapped these performances onto a digital model that was designed to be comic-accurate. The team sought specific reference for Colossus's metallic finish to avoid looking "chromey", by visiting a metal company to look at samples. They settled on cold rolled steel, with the darker hot rolled steel used for his hair. The model also includes ridges which could be moved separately to keep them perfectly straight as in the comic books. DD also created the model of Deadpool that was used by all the VFX vendors. His mask was animated around the eyes to be expressive as in the comics. This helped balance out the "chinwag" coming through the bottom of the mask as Reynolds acted. Fully replacing Deadpool's head was going to be too costly, so Weta Digital warped each shot based on facial references from Reynolds and adjusted the lighting to reflect the changes instead. This was called an "ingenious 2D-ish solution". Atomic Fiction created a freeway environment for the Twelve Bullets Fight, with a backdrop based on Detroit, Chicago, and Vancouver. They also created the vehicles used in the sequence. These assets were used by Blur for the opening titles, which move through a frozen moment where Deadpool is fighting thugs inside a crashing car. The amusing titles include "Directed by an overpaid tool" and "Produced by asshats". Reynolds, Miller, and the writers came up with their own credits hoping to set the tone for the film. Luma contributed the film's blood and gore using practical footage as well as digital effects for more complex scenes. When Deadpool cuts off his own hand, DD did not want to be "outdone" by Luma and had "buckets of blood pouring out". Luma created the regrowing hand, inspired by the hand of a fetus. When Deadpool breaks both his hands, DD went through 20 or 30 different versions of what broken fingers could look like. For Deadpool's initial scarring from the warehouse fire, Rodeo FX referenced rotting fruit and maggot-eaten meat. The company added a CGI penis to Reynolds in this sequence, which visual effects supervisor Wayne Brinton said, "you don't even notice [but] when it wasn't there it looked really weird". Rodeo also augmented the practical fire in the scene. The vendors all collaborated for the final battle sequence, which takes place in the wreckage of a helicarrier. Luma created the climactic fight between Deadpool and Ajax; DD created most of the Colossus effects until he is damaged when Blur Studio took over; DD created the effects for Negasonic Teenage Warhead's abilities as well as expanding the helicarrier's deck; Rodeo contributed matte paintings for the background; and Weta provided the facial animation for Deadpool. Negasonic's abilities were the only "supernatural effect-sy thing" in the film, and were based on fuel-air explosives and solar flares to try to ground them in reality. Setting the final sequence on the wrecked helicarrier was Miller's idea. This helped to expand the scope of the third act and include more connections to the comics and the wider Marvel Universe. To avoid rights issues with Marvel Studios, the helicarrier for Deadpool was designed to be "as different as possible from the one in The Avengers". Additionally a French animation artist with a "unique style" created 2D cartoon characters that dance around Deadpool after he is stabbed in the head during the fight. ==Music==

Tom Holkenborg announced in October 2015 that he would compose the score for Deadpool. Noting that Deadpool only makes pre-1990 musical references, Holkenborg decided to use sounds from the 1980s in the movie's main theme, such as those of an Oberheim and a Synclavier. Several songs were written in to Reese and Wernick's script to be used in the film. Some of these ultimately did not work as intended. For example, the sex montage with Wilson and Vanessa was to play along with Frank Sinatra's version of "It Was a Very Good Year" in the script, but it was changed to Neil Sedaka's "Calendar Girl" during editing. A soundtrack album featuring Holkenborg's score and the songs heard in the film was released digitally on February 12, 2016, and physically on March 4 through Milan Records. The Deadpool rap was also featured, during the "Finding Francis" montage. Both the music of George Michael and his pop group Wham! are used throughout, with repeat reference to the Wham! album Make It Big. ==Marketing==

Due to the film's limited marketing budget, Reynolds worked closely with Fox's marketing chief Marc Weinstock to use the Internet to their advantage and come up with cheaper, "Deadpool-based" ways to market the film. This included unique trailers, unconventional billboards, promotional tie-ins with Super Bowl 50 and Viacom, and an extensive social media presence. Reynolds kept one of the Deadpool costumes for himself, and appeared in it throughout the marketing campaign. Visual effects vendor Image Engine animated Deadpool's mask for these appearances, using a process similar to that used by Weta Digital for the film. Emma Grey Ellis at Wired.com described the campaign as "crazy and unrelenting" with Deadpool waging a "marketing siege of every platform you would think of". Bobby Anhalt at Screen Rant called it possibly "the best film marketing campaign in the history of cinema". HostGator's Jeremy Jensen attributed the campaign's success to Reynolds, and to Fox for embracing the film's R rating. ==Release==

Theatrical Deadpools world premiere was held at the Grand Rex in Paris on February 8, 2016, As of July 2022, the film was also made available to stream on Disney+ in the United States, alongside Logan (2017) and Deadpool 2, marking the first R-rated films available on the streaming service in the U.S. region. ==Reception==

Box office Deadpool grossed $363 million in the United States and Canada and $419.8 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $782.8 million, against a budget of $56.7 million. At the end of January 2016, the film was projected to earn $54.7–60 million over its opening weekend in the United States and Canada. Trying to explain this surprise, Fox's domestic distribution chief, Chris Aronson, said, "It's hard to comp and predict. You're doing something that's never been done. It's like you throw the rulebook out the window." The weekend included $12.7 million from Thursday preview showings on February 11, $47.5 million on its opening day, $42.5 million on February 13, and $42.6 million on February 14, as well as $19.7 million on February 15 to end the long weekend. These were all day-of-the-week records for R-rated films and days in February for Thursday through Monday. $16.7 million of this came from IMAX screens, a record opening weekend for R-rated films and February releases in that format. The film earned an additional $55 million in its second weekend. This kept it at No. 1, and made it the fastest R-rated film to cross $200 million, doing so in nine days. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. PostTrak reported an average positive score of 97%, with 45% of filmgoers saying the film exceeded their expectations. Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post scored Deadpool three-and-a-half out of four, calling it a "voraciously self-aware comedy" and the first R-rated Marvel film "with real teeth". He praised the film's attitude and tone, Reynolds for making Deadpool a likeable character and the film's action scenes. TheWraps Alonso Duralde said Deadpool "shouldn't work, but it absolutely does", feeling that it successfully balanced comedy with superhero action, and that the chemistry between Reynolds and Baccarin gave enough weight to the plot to support the tone and violence. Calvin Wilson at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch also gave the film three-and-a-half out of four, saying it was "smart, sexy, and outrageous", but that it would not work without Reynolds. The Guardians Peter Bradshaw gave the film four out of five calling it "neurotic and needy—and very entertaining", comparing it to Kick-Ass (2010) and Kill Bill (2003). He did feel the film's villains were underused. Writing for Uproxx, Drew McWeeny described it as "the world's most violent and vulgar Bugs Bunny cartoon", and praised the film's unconventional plot structure, its personal stakes, the difference in tone and storytelling from other superhero films, and the cast. Varietys Justin Chang said the film is "terribly arch and juvenile [but] also startlingly effective", praising Reynolds' performance (and the film's willingness to hide his looks under prosthetics), the script, and director Miller for staying "out of the way of his script and his star". Todd McCarthy at The Hollywood Reporter felt the film took a while to get going, "but once it does, Deadpool drops trou to reveal itself as a really raunchy, very dirty and pretty funny goof on the entire superhero ethos". Rolling Stones Peter Travers said the film "goes on too long and repetition dulls its initial cleverness", but the "junky feel is part of its charm". He praised the cast, particularly Reynolds as well as Tim Miller's action sequences. At The Boston Globe, Tom Russo gave the film three stars. He criticized the "featherweight" plot, but said that there is enough humor to support it, and that Reynolds was "born to play" Deadpool. Chris Nashawaty graded the film a 'B' for Entertainment Weekly, saying it "doesn't have the most adrenalized action sequences or the deepest origin story" but makes up for that with R-rated fun. Nashawaty felt Reynolds was the perfect star for the film and is "a blast of laughing gas in a genre that tends to take itself way too seriously". Tasha Robinson at The Verge felt there was too much juvenile humor. She noted the film did not make homophobic, racist, or sexist jokes, and that its overall tone remained joyous despite the material. David Edelstein of Vulture said the film's jokes save it from a lack of subtext and strong villains and noted the "gratifyingly twisty" structure. Manohla Dargis at The New York Times was not impressed with the listing of the film's genre cliches in the opening credits before they were used. She highlighted the "human" elements in the film and the moments where Reynolds and Tim Miller did "more than hit the same bombastic notes over and over again". IndieWires Kate Erbland gave the film a 'B−', praising its style, and Reynolds' Deadpool for breaking the superhero mold, but criticizing the overall film for following genre conventions and focusing on "numbing" violence and un-original swearing and nudity. Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan said that Deadpool "gets off to a fun start" but the character "eventually wears out his welcome". He noted that though the film has a complicated narrative, it is masking a conventional Marvel origin story. Turan did highlight the film's romantic element and Baccarin's performance. Jonathon Pile of Empire gave the film three out of five, saying the number of jokes "will soon numb you to their impact". He called the film a fun alternative to other superhero films. Robbie Collin at The Daily Telegraph also gave the film three out of five, saying it is not "the future of superhero movies", calling it "an enjoyably obnoxious detour". He felt some of the film's jokes about superhero cliches were out of date by the time the film was released. The San Francisco Chronicles Mick LaSalle did not appreciate the humor, fourth wall breaking, or violence. He concluded the film is "bad, borderline garbage, but disturbing, too, in that it's just the kind of fake-clever awfulness that might be cinema's future". Accolades Deadpool has received many awards and nominations, recognizing the film as a whole, as well as: the cast's performance, particularly Reynolds as Deadpool; several technical areas, including the film's makeup, sound, and visual effects; and the film's unconventional marketing campaign. It was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, four Critics' Choice Movie Awards (winning two), a Directors Guild of America Award, five Empire Awards, seven Golden Trailer Awards (winning two), a Hugo Award, two Key Art Awards for marketing (winning both), eight MTV Movie Awards (winning two), a Producers Guild of America Award, four People's Choice Awards (winning two), three Saturn Awards (winning one), six Teen Choice Awards (winning two), and a Writers Guild of America Award. After being nominated for awards such as the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice, and Writers Guild of America, Deadpool was considered a serious contender by commentators for several Academy Awards, despite its content and tone. This included potential nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and after its Producers Guild of America nomination, Best Picture. When the film did not receive any Academy Award nominations, it was widely considered to have been "snubbed". Analyzing potential reasons for this, Screen Rant's Alex Leadbeater said that while the film "earned a solid thumbs up from most", it was generally not praised by top critics for offering any "depth or related subversion of its genre". He also noted an apparent bias that Academy voters have against superhero films; the lack of a targeted campaign for the awards by Fox, who did not seem to be expecting any of the film's previous awards either; and the number of other films in contention, as "2016 was, all in all, a pretty good year for movies". A variant cover for Marvel Comics' X-Men Gold #1, with art by Ron Lim and released in April 2017, references Deadpools Oscar snub. Cinematic impact Before Deadpools success, R-rated, comic-based films considered successful were 300 (2006) and Watchmen (2009), which earned about half the opening weekend gross of successful PG-13 superhero films. Kick-Ass, a film tonally similar to Deadpool, made even less with a $19.8 million opening. Many reasons were given why Deadpool went on to be more successful than these, including the popularity of the Marvel brand and Reynolds' performance. Tom Huddleston Jr. wrote for Fortune that Deadpool was proof to Hollywood that R-rated films can be as successful as PG-13 films, "particularly when fans see the rating itself as validation that the film is true to its source material". A Hollywood executive not involved with the film felt it succeeded because it "has a self-deprecating tone that's riotous. It's never been done before. It's poking fun at Marvel. That label takes itself so seriously; can you imagine them making fun of themselves in a movie?" James Gunn, director of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, rejected this saying Deadpool was a success because "it's original, it's damn good... and it wasn't afraid to take risks". Gunn hoped studios would learn "the right lesson" from the film and not just try to make more films like Deadpool. After Fox's Logan (2017) also became a success, Forbes Paul Tassi reiterated Gunn's sentiments, saying the rating was "appropriate given the 'adult' nature of these two heroes", but "too much stock is being put into unrestrained violence rather than people examining what actually makes these movies work". Graeme McMillan of The Hollywood Reporter concurred, adding, "Why not take the freedom that comes from that rating and try to re-approach the mainstream genre with that attitude?" In March 2017, a Warner Bros. executive said that an R-rated DC Extended Universe film could "absolutely" happen, while Sony Pictures began developing an R-rated adaptation of the character Venom with a smaller budget, inspired by Fox's success with Deadpool and Logan (even though Venom was released under the PG-13 rating). In June, Kevin Feige said in response to the successes that, though Marvel Studios was not planning any R-rated films for its Marvel Cinematic Universe, "it's not out of the question". After the proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced in December 2017, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the company would be willing to make future R-rated Marvel films like Deadpool, potentially under a "Marvel-R" brand, "as long as we let the audiences know what's coming". ==Franchise==

A sequel, Deadpool 2, was released in May 2018 to comparable critical and commercial success. Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, the character's film rights were returned to Marvel Studios alongside the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. Deadpool & Wolverine, a third film starring Reynolds and Hugh Jackman and integrating their characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), was released on July 26, 2024, as part of Phase Five of the MCU. Sequel Before Deadpools release, Fox green-lit a sequel with Reese and Wernick returning to write the screenplay. The film was released on July 26, 2024, with Hugh Jackman reprising his role as Wolverine. ==Notes==