5 Ways to Prep: Deadpool 2

By George Rose

May 21, 2018

Eeeeee! You're prepping for me!

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Remember that time Avengers: Infinity War opened to $250+ million on the same weekend that I went to the Great Philadelphia Comic Con with my very first Press Pass? Yeah, that was amazing. You know what else that was? Old news. Today is a new day and the world tends to revolve around topping itself. But, I mean, golly gee whiz how could I ever top such a monumental nerd weekend?! By waiting a whole two weeks, that’s how. This weekend sees the return of Deadpool, the surprise Marvel sensation from just two years ago. Granted, it’s not going to deliver Infinity War numbers but that doesn’t mean this weekend can’t compare to my prior extravaganza. With a smaller movie, we’ll just have to find a bigger Con experience.

Well, folks, we have that AND MORE! Not only will some of us enjoy Deadpool 2 this weekend but a few will get the pleasure of Wizard World Comic Con in Philadelphia. Two Cons in two weeks in the same city? That’s just silly. Unless, of course, the two Cons are drastically different. For my first Press Pass experience at the Great Philly Con, I would find myself pretending to interview the Power Rangers with an inflatable microphone during selfies I paid for. This time, the main draws aren’t 90’s television stars. The roster currently includes: six Lord of the Rings cast members, three from Game of Thrones, half of the Justice League, a pair from Avengers and mother F-ing Chewbacca. There are others but I think you get the point.

This Con is bigger and better, which makes it more expensive and exciting. The risk is high and the reward even higher. I’ve been stockpiling the autographable collectibles needed to round up the troops, but there’s a problem with the budget. Not only will this Con cost at least twice the prior Con, but I will be shuttling back-and-forth from Philadelphia to Atlantic City all weekend during a friend’s bachelor party. Oh yeah, and not only was I approved for a Press Pass AGAIN but I was offered a few celebrity one-on-one interviews. I repeat, this weekend the world will embrace Deadpool’s return, a few will also experience Wizard World Philly Comic Con, even fewer will also be partying in Atlantic City, and a handful of people get to also interview celebrities. Needless to say, my weekend is going to be better than yours (knock on wood).

Except, my dear friends, I’m not great at bragging so instead I’ll do my best to share. With two mega-blockbusters coming out in the next two weeks, there’s little time to properly and shamelessly discuss the gory convention details. For now, just know big things are coming and they will be brought to you exclusively here on Box Office Prophets. Autographs are a fun start and my first Press Pass taught us a lot, but now the big leagues are knocking and it’s time to break out my big boy microphone. One day you’re just a fan, the next your dancing with the stars at Comic Con and then, who knows, maybe E! News? Considering the wave of good luck I’ve been riding into this weekend, it might be best if I kept my gambling to a minimum.

Despite all the wonderful times and stories ahead of me, we need to focus. The war between my dueling Philly Comic Cons needs to wait. There’s a bigger war at hand: the Disney vs Marvel war. Together, the companies just produced the largest opening weekend ever with Avengers and now they will be pitted against each other. Mommy and daddy are great together but who has the better mistress? Fox and Marvel have Deadpool 2 this weekend, while next weekend brings Solo: A Star Wars Story from Lucasfilm and Disney. As of now, they are tied.

Both films are expected to debut in the $150 million range, while final totals could land anywhere from $350 to $450 million. Solo has the edge being a Star Wars movie opening on Memorial Day weekend while Deadpool could easily ride the Marvel high of the moment. Opening weekends should be close enough that the winner of the first battle could end up still losing the war. We won’t know for another month who the ultimate victor is but for now we can do our best to prepare for the return of Ryan Reynolds’ wise-cracking anti-hero in Deadpool 2!




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#1) DEADPOOL (2016)

This should seem like a fairly obvious recommendation as it is the “only” film in the Deadpool franchise so far. It’s a simple love story, really, as a white-trash boy meets a hooker girl and the two fall helplessly in love. A montage of holiday-themed sex positions later and Reynolds’ Wade Wilson finds himself with cancer. To cure it, he allows a sketchy organization to try and force any mutant genes laying dormant to come to surface to help cure his ailments. Well, it works. He is now practically indestructible but unbearable to the eye. From there, you have a standard hunt-the-bad-guy superhero flick full of curse words and fourth-wall breaking. I’m sure the world has played this movie out by now but I still enjoy any repeat viewing I have the pleasure to stumble on to while watching TV. The romance really is beautiful to watch as Deadpool’s love interest is played by the infectious Morena Baccarin who steals every scene. Few expected Deadpool to explode like it did so anything is possible now for its sequel.

#2) X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (2009)

Even though Deadpool the movie is the first in the character’s own franchise, he did actually make an appearance before in Wolverine’s first spin-off feature. In that film, Reynolds again played the “merc with a mouth” but as a different version. The character was introduced as one of Logan’s first teammates prior to the X-Men. He already had his regenerative powers which made him a perfect follow-up to Wolverine in the Weapon X program. Since he could easily heal, it was Deadpool who was chosen to undergo experimentation to absorb the superpowers of other mutants. It was a drastic deviation from the true character and the fan outcry almost killed the Wolverine sub-franchise. It didn’t, as the monster success of last year’s Logan proved. It was, however, such an embarrassment for Reynolds that he had no choice but to poke fun at this film inside his own Deadpool film. Fourth-wall breaking is great if you’re “in the know,” although I doubt he’ll make yet another mention of this monstrosity in the new sequel.

#3) GREEN LANTERN (2011)

The “success” of Reynolds in Wolverine must have caught DC executive eyes because it wasn’t long after that he would appear as an out-of-this-world hero in Green Lantern. This time, Reynolds is a pilot that finds a dying alien and is given magical ring that give hims powers and take him into space. In the hands of Marvel, the story would have been amazing and we’ll get a similar version next year with Captain Marvel (she, too, gets alien powers). Lantern’s only saving grace was the exceptional 3D effects and the jokes Reynolds got to make about Green Lantern inside Deadpool (fourth-wall breaking never gets old). Because of the failure of this film, we still haven’t gotten much mention of the Green Lantern Corp within the current DC Extended Universe. That’ll be changing soon but, for now, this green garbage is all we got.

#4) X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (2014)

So we know Deadpool is kind of in the X-Men universe because he appeared in Wolverine’s first movie, but that version was abandoned for Deadpool because it was stupid. However, Deadpool mentions that version in the movie so… it’s still in the same universe? It’s hard to tell because after almost ten X-Men and Wolverine movies, they reset the timeline in Days of Future Past. We still aren’t sure if the one timeline was reset or if multiple ones were created as a result, but what we know is that Deadpool is aware of the X-Men and even visits Professor X’s school for gifted youngsters in his movie. It is there that he teams up with Colossus, the only X-Men that Deadpool’s producers “could afford.” Since Deadpool 2 features the time-traveling mutant Cable (played by Thanos himself, Josh Brolin) and Days of Future Past plays with time travel, this seems like the X-Men movie to catch up on. Also, when the timeline was reset you saw that Cyclops lives. In the comics, Cyclops is Cable’s father. Whether this fact will come to light remains to be seen so catch up on as much as you can before Cable’s big introduction.

#5) DOMINO (2005)

One of the great unknowns of Deadpool 2 is Domino, a lady with the power of luck. In the comics she, like Deadpool, is a mercenary. That’s probably why they get alone go well. In the comics she is a white woman with a big black patch around one of her eyes but in Deadpool 2 she is played by a black woman with a white patch. Since I know the heart of the Deadpool franchise is beating to the drum of superfan Reynolds, I know this switch is less of a “white-washing scandal” than Reynolds’ ex-wife Scarlett Johansson playing an Asian in Ghost in the Shell. This seems to be more a matter of modern day inclusion, which I support. If you look at the Deadpool 2 poster, there are only two African Americans and one of them is now Domino. Someone had to make the switch and giving Domino a Foxy Cleopatra makeover is ok by me.

I do, however, expect the fourth-wall breaking mercenary to make mention of this change. We know the intention behind this racial switch is harmless but there is too much tension around topics like blackface, whitewashing and “why not make Black Panther white, then” to get into it. If you’re one of the horrible people that’s keeping the world from evolving and you demand a white Domino, there’s a movie for you. It’s called Domino and it’s about the real life model-turned-bounty hunter Domino Harvey. Since it barely cracked $10 million stateside, I’m pretty sure you never saw it. If you’re one of the few racist jerks crying about black Domino in Deadpool 2, then you have nobody to blame but yourself for not supporting white Domino.

Next week we’ll look at Deadpool 2’s opening and Solo’s tracking. The first week of June seems quiet so check back then for epic Comic Con updates, if I survive the bachelor party.


     


 
 

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