It’s incredible to think that had the test footage not “accidentally” leaked online in July 2014, effectively letting skepticism get the better of 20th Century Fox, the foul-mouthed mercenary, Deadpool, would’ve never made it to the big screen. Thankfully, with David Leitch at the helm, the Merc with a Mouth has led the studio to another highly successful R-rated farce, to the tune of nearly $530 million worldwide, thus far.
Although Wade Wilson did suffer, albeit ever so slightly, from the sophomore jitters, which ultimately prevented Deadpool 2 ($125M) from achieving the highest-grossing R-rated debut (Deadpool with $132M), the flick has more than made back the $110 million it cost to produce and has another record or two all lined up in the crosshairs: highest grossing comedy sequel of all-time (The Hangover: Part II, $587M), and biggest comedy sequel in North America (Meet the Fockers, $279M).
Unfortunately, because Marvel Entertainment does not produce much in the way of merchandise, we won’t get the chance to flip through an illustrated accompaniment, akin to Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years. Nevertheless, we’ve compiled some concept art and before and after VFX images from Deadpool 2 for you in the gallery below, featuring Cable (Josh Brolin), Domino (Zazie Beetz), Firefist (Julian Dennison) and of course, the Merc himself. Enjoy!
While Fox can, by and large, attribute their success to the comedic abilities of Ryan Reynolds, the Canadian-born actor is far from the only draw Deadpool 2 has to offer. Taking into consideration a surprise appearance from a fan favourite villain, the kerbside appeal of Academy Award nominee Josh Brolin, and one hilarious cameo featuring a few of Xavier’s gifted children, it’s no surprise that the pic is such a triumph.
Peculiarly, though, Reynolds doesn’t seem to keen on a threequel. That’s a shame, to be sure, but with Wade Wilson set to appear in X-Force and the character proving to be a huge moneymaker, we expect him to be around on our screens for a while yet.
