The pure density of clues, hints, references, allusions and Easter eggs in the promotional material of Deadpool and Wolverine It’s dizzying. Just watch any of the in-depth analysis of the Super Bowl preview or the Trailer for the sequel to “Like a Prayer” released on April 22, or the cluster of clips that Marvel released on May 20th when tickets went on sale. Or the “Lady Deadpool” trailer which went up last week.
Fans have spotted cameos by dozens of characters from previous films. (These acolytes were convinced they had proof that Jennifer Garner would return as Elektra based solely on a few frames in which her legs and elbow can supposedly be seen.) They pieced together the story’s complex chronology based on subtle changes in the characters’ attire from one shot to the next.
They spotted subtle differences between versions of the trailers released on different platforms: the one Reynolds posted shows a small QR code between Hugh Jackman’s legs at one point, and decoding it leads to a self-mockery. Disclaimer VideoThere are nods to Reynolds’ sports reality series. Welcome to Wrexham and even a reference to the notorious fact that Rob Liefeld, the comic book creator who came up with Deadpool, has difficulty drawing realistic feet.
To be sure, movie studios have long been throwing bait to hardcore superhero fans to whet their appetite for upcoming films. More than 35 years ago, a trailer for Tim Burton’s first Batman film became a pop cultural sensation in its own right. (“The most talked-about ‘next movie’ in recent memory, it elicits applause and often cheers,” Joe Morgenstern wrote in A 1989 New York Times article.) Many superhero trailers have featured deep cuts that reward thorough knowledge of the source material. Marvel trailers in particular have been full of catnip for fans ever since intellectual property impresario Kevin Feige kicked off the MCU with Iron Man.
“It’s been their bread and butter since 2008,” Voss says. “But Deadpool and Wolverine “He’s taken it to a level we haven’t seen before.”
Extreme self-awareness It fits the material: Deadpool has always been a superhero who steps outside of the story to make comments directly to the reader or viewer. “The character really lends itself to the material,” says Ben Fritz, the Wall Street Journal editor who created the podcast series. With great power: the rise of superhero cinema and wrote the book The big picture: the fight for the future of cinema.
The referentiality also fits with the mood of current pop culture. Superhero blockbusters as a whole are in their meta era, with alternate universe crossovers and multiple versions of the same character popping up everywhere.
Self-awareness has also long been key to Reynolds’ brand. The Deadpool franchise is when Reynolds rebooted his career and reinvented himself as a marketing genius who’s determined to let the audience in on the joke. Before creating tongue-in-cheek viral ads for Mint Mobile and Aviation Gin, He got the green light from 20th Century Fox to make the Deadpool movies in 2014 after some test footage was “accidentally” filtered out to the web. It concludes with Reynolds making a reference to the tagline of the forgettable 1980s action film starring Sly Stallone. Cobraand greet the studio executive who would eventually allow the film to go ahead.
“Reynolds had a cavalier relationship with the fourth wall, and the Deadpool movies have always been satires of all the other superhero movies,” Voss says. Before Reynolds convinced Hugh Jackman to take on the role of Wolverine again for the latest film, he had his character, Deadpool, cut out Jackman’s portrait from People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive cover and wear it as a mask. Reynolds has openly stated that the new film will poke fun at Marvel’s parent company, Disney, and at one point in the trailer, we even see the ruins of the iconic 20th Century Fox monolith.
These two studios are inescapably part of the new film’s story. The X-Men franchise and the vast mutant universe that Deadpool is a part of were previously Fox properties, separate from the official Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney acquired 21st Century Fox several years ago, and this film is the first to fully combine the mutant universe with the MCU.Deadpool and Wolverine “This is an opportunity for Disney to make a transition; they’re trying to integrate all these properties,” Fritz says.
