The Success of Deadpool

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It’s an obvious statement that superheroes are extremely popular. You an go to any place and find something related to one of the costumed people who battle evil. Go into a toy store and you’ll find countless action figures and costumes for popular characters such as Spider-Man, Batman and Iron Man. Enter clothes store and you can find T-shirts, pajamas, backpacks, caps and more with images of the Hulk, Superman and Wonder Woman on them. Head to a convenience store and you could find food, bags, paper towels, vitamins and more based on Marvel and DC characters. If you head to the movies, there’s bound to be at least one superhero movie currently playing.

Superhero movies have always been big business. Go back to 1978 and you can see the success of Superman staring Christopher Reeve, then in 1989, Tim Burton’s directed Batman was a smash hit. In 2000 we saw X-Men launch modern superhero films and then the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked off in 2008. Over the past fifteen years we’ve seen many superhero characters on the big screen, many multiple times, such as Spider-Man, the X-Men, Hulk, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, Green lantern, Iron Man, Thor, the Guardian of the Galaxy, Hellboy, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil and more, with one of the breakout stars being Deadpool.

Deadpool first appeared in Marvel’s The New Mutants #98 in 1991. Originally a mercenary villain, he would evolve into the fast talking, comedic, fourth-wall smashing character he is today. Deadpool has served as a rival and partner of Wolverine and would work as a perfect foil. Deadpool is a goofy guy who contrasts with the violent situations he finds himself in, and he has no qualms about killing. The over the top nature of the character allowed to become a beloved with fans and it wasn’t long until Hollywood came calling.

Deadpool made his first movie appearance in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine in a small role, portrayed by Ryan Reynolds. This depiction of the character wasn’t met well with fans, as Deadpool lacked his signature origin and costume and was transformed into a silent henchman at the finale. Reynolds and fans of the character would campaign for Deadpool to receive his own film and after many years this would happen, with Deadpool releasing in early 2016. The movie was a huge success, making over $780 million worldwide on a modest budget of $58 million. The film obtained critical acclaim and was noted as a successful R-rated superhero film, and inspired other to take this route.

 

After being such a huge success, it’s natural there would be a squeal. Deadpool 2 is scheduled to open in theatres in June 2018. Reynolds and much of the original cast is set to return, with the big new actor and character being Josh Brolin as Cable. Cable is a time traveling mutant soldier who has allies with the X-Men and often serves as an unlikely ally of Deadpool. This contrasts of characters has proven a hit in comics and video games so will likely be as successful in the cinema. Jack Kesy has been cast as the villainous Black tom Cassidy and Zazie Beetz portrays Domino, the right-hand woman of Cable.

Deadpool has already become a major pop culture character of the 21st century and has time goes by, he can easily retain this popularity and maybe surpass it.

 

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