There is no better community on the web than ComicBookMovie! With that being said, we would like to continue our new series of articles in which we discuss the movies and news that we love to cover!We look forward to bringing the community new perspectives and different ways to enjoy the news that comes out for comic book movies and allow the community to learn more about our editors. This month, Deadpool graced the big screen with humorous quips, violence and one hell of a "romance" story. We asked the editors five questions on the Deadpool movie, read on and find out what they have to say!
1. What was the ultimate factor in making this film a success and why?
Minal Herath, @MintyYeah: Everyone's going to say it, but that marketing campaign was incredible. It just hit all the right spots, and all the right demos too. And then word-of-mouth as well. Six months ago I thought Deadpool & Zoolander 2 would both probably gross about the same opening weekend, but some dire reviews and weak marketing sank Zoolander 2, and Deadpool ended up grossing 10x as much. That's the power of word-of-mouth.
Mark Cassidy, @RorMachine: I'd say the combo of a brilliantly cast leading man (Ryan Reynolds) and a writing team that really "got" the material. This could have so easily been a disaster, but they stayed true to the character's irreverent (and pretty juvenile at at times) humor to produce a damn funny and entertaining CBM.
Mark Julian, @_MarkJulian: I think the timing of the release was just right. It's a good film, releasing at a time when there's really nothing else in theaters. Superhero films were also trending towards becoming overly serious and Deadpool poked fun at that in a way that the general movie audience hasn't seen before. I also think Ed Skrein is getting overshadowed by Ryan Reynolds's performance. He brought a lot of charisma to the role, which was necessary as the film didn't exactly flesh out Ajax's backstory or motivations.
Josh Wilding, @Josh_Wilding: As great as things like the special effects and gags may have been, I think it ultimately comes down to the love and passion which was poured into the movie by people like Ryan Reynolds, Tim Miller, Rhett Reese, and Paul Wernick. They fought to get this movie made, stuck to their guns, and ultimately delivered the Deadpool movie fans always wanted.
Rohan Patel, @KingPatel7: It's hard to attribute Deadpool's success to one single factor as there are a variety of things the team over at 20th Century Fox did right from the get-go. I have to give kudos to Fox for giving Miller & Reynold the freedoms they needed to get this done the right way, however, since I have to pick one factor, I'd say Ryan Reynolds' enthusiasm and persistence. It's rare you see a talented actor show this much love for a character while also having such a fundamental understanding of what makes that character who he is, what makes audiences gravitate to him. He wasn't just playing Deadpool, he became Deadpool and he seemed to be having a damn good time doing so, which I think audience really responded to. He wanted this so bad, he wanted Deadpool to get the film treatment he deserved, he wanted to give fans the Deadpool they deserved and I'd like to think because of his passion, the world wanted to see Reynolds get the success he deserved. I know I certainly did.
Nathan Best, @Nathan_Best: It really came down to giving the fans what they wanted. Ryan Reynolds and Tim Miller really delivered on all fronts. An “R” rated Deadpool with the wisecracking mercenary who absolutely destroys people, gets his butt kicked and occasionally breaks the fourth wall.
2. What grade would you give Deadpool and why?
Minal Herath, @MintyYeah: B/B+. I really enjoyed it. It's probably one of my favorite comedies I've seen in a while. The writers Wernick & Rheese nailed it with the jokes and Ryan Reynolds showed impeccable comedic timing. As a 'superhero film' I thought it was pretty good, but the story was pretty basic and I didn't fancy the third act as much as the first two. Still, I ended up liking it more than any of 2015's CBMs! (I'd probably rank it on par with Kingsman).
Mark Cassidy, @RorMachine: Well I gave it 4 stars out of 5 in my review... I guess if that was a lettered grade then a B? I really enjoyed watching it and liked most elements, but felt the overall story was a bit pedestrian for a film that clearly wanted to be push the envelope in terms of what a superhero flick could be. I think with a less predicable final act it could have been something really special.
Mark Julian, @_MarkJulian: It's obviously an A. The movie was funny from start to finish and stayed true to Deadpool's comic book lore. The action was great, the cast had chemistry and the pacing was solid.
Josh Wilding, @Josh_Wilding: It's a B+ from me. I really need to see it a second time (I think it could then easily go up to an A), but I liked it a lot. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a masterpiece, but it did an amazing job or bringing Deadpool to the big screen and has me counting down the days until the sequel, so in that respect, it's hard to fault it!
Rohan Patel, @KingPatel7: I'd give it an A. After everything Reynolds, Miller, Rhett Reese, and Paul Wernick went through to get this movie made, it deserves nothing less. Bonus points for delivering such an entertaining final product.
Nathan Best, @Nathan_Best: It deserves an “A” all the way. I haven’t laughed that hard in a movie for a long time and it was an action movie!
3. What was your favorite scene from the movie and why?
Minal Herath, @MintyYeah: Coloussus, Deadpool & Negasonic Teenage Warhead dramatically walking into battle to the sound of 'X Gon' Give It To Ya'. That song's just become synonymous with Deadpool now, thanks to all the trailers, it was just perfect timing. And then for Wade to turn around and realise he's left all his weapons in Dopinder's taxi... priceless! I LOVED the little shoutout to Hydra Bob as well. Pretty sure I was the only person in my theatre who got it though. Everyone else was just looking at me like I was an idiot. Which, to be fair, I am.
Mark Cassidy, @RorMachine: Oh man.. so many to choose from. I'd say I laughed the most during the scene in which Deadpool frequently attacks Colossus and breaks his arms and leg in the process. Obviously major comparisons can be made to the Black Knight scene from Monty Python's Holy Grail - but if you're gonna borrow, borrow from the best.
Mark Julian, @_MarkJulian: The initial fight between Deadpool and Colossus was one of the funniest scenes in the movie. The entire theater fully expected a full-on fisticuffs exchange and Colossus just stood there while Deadpool broke all his limbs. Of course, you have to add the follow-up scene with the baby hand too!
Josh Wilding, @Josh_Wilding: That's a tough one. I loved the after-credits scene and thought all of the action stuff was top notch, but I would actually single out the stuff with Deadpool and Dopinder in the taxi as being my favourite. Wade chastising him in front of Colossus and then whispering things like "Kill him" and "Kidnap her" at the same time was hilarious and definitely appealed to my twisted sense of humour.
Rohan Patel, @KingPatel7: Can I just say the whole movie? It works so well put together that it's hard to pick a single scene, so I'll just shoot off a list of favorites. The 12 bullets fight scene, katana fight near the end, Deadpool vs. Francis, "your crazy matches my crazy," second Dopinder cab scene, and the scene where Francis tells Wade that he's not actually going to be a superhero. Heartbreaking scene and Reynolds played it excellently.
Nathan Best, @Nathan_Best: There were so many great scenes, it’s hard to pick just one. I’ll have to go with My TWO favorite scenes were when he tried to fight with Colossus on the freeway. The fact that he KNEW he wouldn’t win the fight, but he was so mad that he couldn’t help himself (as we saw several times during the entire freeway chase and subsequent fighting on the bridge). I also liked it when he forgot all of his gear in the cab when going to confront Ajax with Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead. I almost died when the cabbie was rear-ended!
4. With the rumor of the next Wolverine movie being most likely rated R, do you think that this will pave the way for many R rated superhero flicks? Explain.
Minal Herath, @MintyYeah: So I just wrote a pretty hefty
editorial about this , but to summarize it in a few words: I do think a Wolverine sequel might benefit from being R-rated, and I think Deadpool's success will mean Fox will be less scared to make it so. Do I think every superhero movie should be an R from now on? Absolutely not. Deadpool was a lightning-in-a-bottle scenario. Good luck to any studio lazily trying to imitate that.
Mark Cassidy, @RorMachine: I think after Deadpool's unprecedented success there's no way studios won't take another look at some more adult comic book properties, but I don't know that the filmmakers will actually alter their visions for characters just to secure the R rating. Or maybe I just hope not! You can almost guarantee we'll be seeing a few more violent characters hit the big screen over the next few years though - but I still maintain Marvel Studios will never release an R rated picture.
Mark Julian, @_MarkJulian: Too hard to say.Given the fickle nature of Hollywood, all it would take is for the next R-rated superhero film to flop and studios would shy away again. For every Deadpool, there'll be five Dredds or Punisher: War Zones.
Josh Wilding, @Josh_Wilding: I'm not sure the next Wolverine movie needs an R-Rating, but it has the potential to do some fun things with it. If the story fits that rating and it can be used to enhance the material, great, but I'm not keen on the idea of a string of R comic book movies for the sake of it. Still, if the success of Deadpool opens the door to the likes of Nemesis, that would be great.
Rohan Patel, @KingPatel7: I think it will and it's both good and bad. First things first, Deadpool's R-rating had very little, if anything, to do with its success. An R-rating didn't make or break the film. Now I'm not saying that if Deadpool had been rated PG-13 that it would've done as well, I mean it could've, but it would've been a considerably different film as to earn that PG-13, they would've had to likely butcher almost everything that made the film great. An R-rating was necessary here because the character demands an R-rating and that's definitely not the case almost all mainstream heroes i.e. Spider-Man, Captain America, Superman, Batman, etc. I think we're going to see more R-rated characters get the R-rated treatment in the future and maybe see more obscure characters make it to the big screen with the promise of a more adult-oriented adventure backing them up. However, there's a fairly decent chance we'll see mixed results as ratings have very little to do with how the movie turns out. Adding blood & sex to a crappy PG13 movie doesn't make a good R rated movie. On a related note, I'm all for an unrated Batman v Superman cut, but I don't think it was necessary in the slightest.
Nathan Best, @Nathan_Best: I think we’re more likely to see R rated super hero films now that DEADPOOL has proven they can still make money, but I honestly don’t care what the ratings are. I just want to see *
good* comic book movies. PG, PG-13, R, it doesn’t really matter to me. If they’re going for an “R” rating because it’s the “hip” and “cool” thing to do, I’m not interested. An R rating for the sake of an R rating, or so that they can throw some nudity and F-bombs in there, when they really don’t help the story is lame.
5. If you could pick another Marvel movie to be rated R, which one would it be and why?
Minal Herath, @MintyYeah: If any superhero gets an R-rated adaptation, it has to be because it's true to their character. Wolverine would probably be one, although it doesn't HAVE to R-rated like Deadpool. People have mentioned The Punisher & Moon Knight recently, and I agree they do probably need R-rated adaptations. Fortunately, Marvel already have a platform to do that on: Netflix. I'd take a 13-episode Punisher Netflix series over another movie any day.
Mark Cassidy, @RorMachine: Marvel character under the Fox umbrella? Well I'd love to see a solo Sabertooth movie someday, and he'd certainly benefit from the R rating. Marvel Studios is more difficult.. possibly Namor is they hold the rights?
Mark Julian, @_MarkJulian: An R-rated Carnage movie would be great. That would be a different type of R-rating though. I think the superhero drama is wide open for a series entry into the horror genre. I think that's where CBMs will go next after a mysticism phase kicks off with Doctor Strange.
Josh Wilding, @Josh_Wilding: When it comes to Marvel properties, the only one that jumps out at me is X-Force, though there's an argument to be made there that it would be better served being treated as a big budget blockbuster. Honestly, the one R-Rated movie I want more than any other is The Batman...
Rohan Patel, @KingPatel7: Probably X-Force. I'm okay with an R-rated Wolverine 3 since James Mangold is directing, but we're going to need to see some pretty amazing stuff (Omega Red, Sabretooth, the X-Men, an opening credits sequence with Wolverine fighting a Wendigo while falling down a snowy mountain, etc.) I don't think Marvel Studios will ever produce an R-rated film, nor should they have to. I also don't think we'll ever see an R-rated Spider-Man, which I don't think should ever happen, but if we're just spitballing, I think it'd be pretty cool to see an R-rated adaptation of Maximum Carnage.
Nathan Best, @Nathan_Best: It would have to be Wolverine. THE WOLVERINE was good and I really enjoyed it, but Wolverine is such a brutal character, I don’t think you can do him justice in a PG-13 film. The same holds true for a Venom and Carnage movie. They could be good at PG-13, but they would need to be R to truly make them great. I LOVE Punisher and he’s been done a couple of times now, but I would love to see a really GREAT punisher movie.