You’d be forgiven for feeling a little dizzy after emerging from a screening (or a digital viewing) of Deadpool 2.
Much like its wildly successful predecessor, the David Leitch-directed sequel is a blistering, joke-a-minute adventure in which the Merc must join forces with Domino and a slew of X-Force wannabes if he’s to protect Russell (AKA Firefist) from the oncoming Cable.
Suffice it to say, not every joke lands, and unless you have the eyes of a hawk, you’ll probably need to watch Deadpool 2 three or four times in order to locate all of the many Easter eggs and pop culture references scattered within.
Speaking of which, on the sequel’s commentary track (h/t ComicBook.com) – a commentary track that’s already yielded all sorts of juicy tidbits about Deadpool 2 and its journey to the screen – Paul Wernick and Ryan Reynolds detailed the ways in which they choose pop culture references. And no, it doesn’t involve throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks…
Wernick: “Talk about the delicate balance of pop culture references, Ryan. Kind of how we ride that line.”
Reynolds: “Yeah, you want them sprinkled throughout the movie. You don’t wanna overdo, though, either, and you try to wanna find stuff that’s not, you know, as you guys know, that’s not just of the moment and out the next second. Sometimes they’re just off the cuff, and we just fucking roll with it. I love that Deadpool’s so invested in pop culture and drags it into every scene he can.”
From Frozen to Justin Bieber, Justice League to Marvel Studios, the Merc leaves no stone unturned as he administers whip-sharp burns to anyone and everyone. Granted, that contentious Disney joke was pulled quite early on, while Leitch and the team decided to keep the whole Baby Hitler/time travel scene for the so-called Super Duper Cut, which is now available across digital platforms.
And if you’ve been holding out for Blu-ray, you’ll be pleased to hear that Deadpool 2 will grace home video on Tuesday, August 21st.
