It’s been a long time coming, but Deadpool has now officially made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. We’ve been hearing constant chatter that the Merc with a Mouth was poised to make his first appearance in the franchise here, there and everywhere, so it’s typically left field for the irreverent assassin to show up in a trailer breakdown for Free Guy of all things.
The Ryan Reynolds connection makes it a lot more obvious in hindsight, but Shawn Levy’s upcoming video game action comedy isn’t a Marvel Studios or Walt Disney Studios production, which lends it a very bizarre air. Free Guy was originally given the green light at Fox, where Deadpool ironically also used to call home, but after being delayed for so long it’s now coming to theaters next month as a 20th Century Studios effort, and it’ll spend just 45 days as a big screen exclusive before heading to Disney Plus.
Reynolds might be a big star, but the box office is only in its earliest stages of returning to normal, and there are still plenty of question marks surrounding Free Guy‘s chances of success. The leading man has headlined just as many bombs as he has hits, while Levy also has an inconsistent track record from both a critical and commercial standpoint.
Utilizing Deadpool may turn out to be a stroke of genius from the Mouse House’s marketing team. Wade Wilson is a massively popular figure with a pair of films under his belt that combined to earn in excess of $1.5 billion, while fans have been desperate to find out when and where he would make his MCU bow. Now that it’s happened, the buzz should realistically raise awareness and hype for Free Guy, resulting in a knock-on effect that could bump box office takings up a notch or two.
Published: Jul 14, 2021 08:20 am