Deadpool didn't just shake up the status quo for action adventures starring guys in capes
it went the extra mile and set a lot of cinematic precedents, some of them quite subtly. if
you can believe it.
This is how Deadpool changed movies and you barely noticed.
Deadpool's marketing is basically a movie's worth of entertainment in and of itself.
Seriously, from Mother's Day gags to billboards that shouldn't exist, the folks behind Deadpool
pulled out all the stops to make sure hype would be at its absolute peak by the time
the superhero hit the big screen.
What made it so special isn't just its excessive, over-the-top humor, but also its not-so-subtle
meta slant.
Befitting the character, Deadpool's marketing made sure to tap into fourth-wall-breaking
territory, showcasing a degree of self-awareness that elated the meme generation.
"You're probably thinking, 'My boyfriend said this was a superhero movie.'
Well, surprise: This is actually lucky you a love story."
This movie knew its target demographic so well that it transcended its own status, resulting
in Deadpool's pre-release antics being shared as entertainment rather than advertising.
This led to an unprecedented degree of organic word of mouth, which likely played a huge
part in Deadpool's debut as the one of the biggest R-rated openings of all time.
So what if Justice League has A-listers like The Flash, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman?
No one cares about them or that movie; B-listers are the new hot property.
After all, Deadpool was only as good as its red-suited merc and his ensemble of backup
dancers, which included beloved comic book characters like… uhh hang on, let us check
our notes Weasel… and Negasonic Teenage Warhead…
"Negasonic teenage — what the s---?!
That's the coolest name EVER!"
Okay, yeah, neither of these were fan favorites.
And while Colossus definitely has a following, it'd be a serious stretch to call him an A-lister.
Really, the cast of this movie, from top to bottom, was as B-list or below as it got and
that's probably why it worked so well.
Virtually none of these characters had to worry about living up to overwhelming audience
expectations, meaning there was minimal pressure and maximum freedom to adapt them however
would best suit the film.
And that's exactly what Deadpool did, writing them smartly and entertainingly enough to
fit within the film's universe while simultaneously maintaining their core comic book identities.
For those reasons, the movie nailed building its own team of budget Avengers, effectively
proving to Hollywood that you don't need an Iron Man or Wonder Woman to produce a moneymaker
loaded with franchise-starting characters.
"It's a big house.
It's funny that I only ever see two of you.
It's almost like… the studio couldn't afford another X-man."
If there's one movie that shines as a prime example of what fans can accomplish when they
band together to create buzz on the internet, it's Deadpool.
If not for the leaked test footage, we might very well have never gotten a Deadpool solo
movie at all.
But Fox felt compelled to dish out $58 million which isn't even all that much in superhero
movie money as a result of a lot of geeks on the internet screaming about how much they
wanted some goofball in a red jumpsuit to shoot people and say bad words.
What a time we live in.
"We all sort of said at the beginning, 'Someone should leak it!
Someone should leak it.'
So (???) the idea was (???) But I'm 70% sure it wasn't me."
Though we've yet to see another brave test footage leaker come out of the woodwork to
make their hypothetical dream movie a studio-budgeted reality, it doesn't change the fact that the
Deadpool situation and the response by Fox set a new precedent in the filmmaking world:
when the internet speaks, it can make real change.
In the old days, Hollywood was a gated kingdom where the true power brokers all wore suits
and traded business cards.
Moving forward, we now know another party has a voice at the decision-making table:
the fans.
It's just a matter of making enough noise.
A lot of films fall into the trap of being overly sincere or, in more recent years, too
self-aware.
Movies like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice showed us what can happen when a movie takes
itself far too seriously.
On the other end of the spectrum, if every other minute of a film is littered with self-referential
dialogue, then there's no room whatsoever for real emotional investment by the audience.
Deadpool, the first and best of its meta-kind, showed that it's possible to be extremely
self-aware but also legitimately emotional at the same time.
Deadpool tied most of its fourth-wall-breaking antics to the main character's superhero alter
ego, so that whenever Wade and Vanessa were sharing an intimate, real beat, no cynical,
self-deprecating humor would crop up and ruin the moment.
"Your life is officially waaay more f---ed up than mine."
"I love you."
It was a smart balancing move that ensured audiences would care about Wade and Vanessa's
happiness and well-being, while also being able to laugh at all of Deadpool's zany shenanigans.
Prior to Deadpool, few thought that a movie loaded with CGI gunfights, throwdowns, and
explosions could ever operate as a functional comedy.
Guardians of the Galaxy was as close as any superhero film had come to achieving that,
and even that movie veered more into action-adventure territory.
Deadpool went for the guffaws right from its opening title sequence all the way 'til the
very end of its credits.
For the crowds who like raunchy Seth Rogen comedies and Seth MacFarlane's comedic fare,
this movie fit the bill and felt more like a Marvel-flavored big-budget parody than an
actual superhero movie.
Deadpool's effects on the industry are readily apparent.
It might've come out later that same year, but given the extensive reshoots Suicide Squad
went through, one can venture a guess that the movie's sudden influx of meta-humor might've
been the result of Deadpool's success.
And just look at Shazam!, another keenly self-aware superhero movie that, unlike its DCEU contemporaries,
is actually, well… fun.
Who's to say what kind of tone it would've aimed for without Deadpool to prove that a
superhero movie doesn't have to be such a brooding, mopey affair?
"Do you like what you see?"
"No.
You look like an avacado had sex with an older, more disgusting avacado."
"Yeah."
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