once upon a deadpool
via 20th Century Fox

A sanitized superhero spinoff that failed to justify its existence waters down the streaming charts

Nobody asked for it, nobody needed it, and nobody really cared.

Up until Joker came along, Deadpool 2 held the distinction of being the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history, so there was understandably some concern among fans when it was first announced that Once Upon a Deadpool was on the way.

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Watering down Wade Wilson’s second solo outing to secure a PG-13 rating and bookending it with Fred Savage cameos to poke fun at The Princess Bride was a questionable call from the off, even if it ended up being for a good cause when Ryan Reynolds made a deal for money from every ticket sold being donated to a cancer charity.

Nobody was expecting a PG-13 Deadpool film to be anything to write home about, and those concerns proved to be entirely well-founded after critics and audiences rarely found themselves in complete agreement over Once Upon a Deadpool‘s merits, as evidenced by respective Rotten Tomatoes score of 56 and 55 percent from both parties.

once upon a deadpool
via 20th Century Fox

Star and producer Reynolds recently voiced his desire to resurrect the full-blown Christmastime spectacular he’d been planning before Disney purchased 20th Century Fox, but he’ll instead have to take solace in the knowledge that Once Upon a Deadpool has been enjoying a timely rebound on streaming.

Per FlixPatrol, the strange hybrid of sequel, spinoff, sidequel, experiment, and entirely unnecessary re-edit that resolutely failed to justify its own existence has been flying high on the Chili charts, with a foul-mouthed and fourth wall-breaking mercenary who loves decapitating bad guys with a katana spreading holiday merriment on the on-demand circuit.


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