'Deadpool': What did 20th Century Fox learn from 'Guardians of the Galaxy'?
The movie 'Deadpool' arrives on Feb. 12. Like some other recent comic book movies, including 'Guardians' and 'Ant-Man,' 'Deadpool' draws on humor. Is this a formula for success?
'Deadpool' stars Ryan Reynolds.
Joe Lederer/Twentieth Century Fox/AP
Merc with the Mouth is almost here.聽
The new superhero movie 鈥淒eadpool,鈥� which centers on the famously talkative and snarky superhero of the same name, stars Ryan Reynolds as the title character and opens on Feb. 12. The movie co-stars Morena Baccarin and Ed Skrein.
In the comic books in which he appears, Deadpool, also known as Wade Wilson, is known for his chattiness and his breaking of the fourth wall, often addressing the comic book reader directly. His powers include the ability to heal and he is trained in fighting.
Judging from the trailers that have been released, it seems that the tone of 鈥淒eadpool鈥� is quite different from, say, the often serious 鈥淎vengers: Age of Ultron,鈥� which was released by Marvel Studios this past May. (Deadpool appears in Marvel comic books but the film is being released by 20th Century Fox.)聽
Recent superhero movies, such as the 鈥淒ark Knight鈥� trilogy that was directed by Christopher Nolan, were well, dark, and often raised serious moral questions.聽
The movies released by the incredibly successful Marvel Studios have varied in timbre. More films that could almost be classified as comedies have come from Marvel in recent years, with, for example, the 2014 movie 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy鈥� and last year鈥檚 鈥淎nt-Man鈥� both including lots of humor (both starred actors known for their comedy, with 鈥淕uardians鈥� actor Chris Pratt having appeared on the sitcom 鈥淧arks and Recreation鈥� and 鈥淎nt-Man鈥� star Paul Rudd appearing in such movies as 鈥淎nchorman 2鈥� and 鈥淭his Is the End.鈥澛�
While 鈥淎nt-Man鈥� was a lower-grossing movie for Marvel (though still a box office success), this strategy paid off well in particular with 鈥淕uardians,鈥� with the space-set movie becoming one of the highest-grossing movies of 2014.聽
As, in particular, Warner Bros.鈥� serious-looking 鈥淏atman v Superman鈥� comes to theaters about a month later, 鈥淒eadpool鈥� star Ryan Reynolds has spoken about how different the movie is from gloomy comic book films.
鈥淲e have all these movies coming along and they're all very, very serious and ... very gritty and dark," Reynolds said in . "Deadpool is kind of the opposite of that. He takes nothing seriously and I think that's fun. It's a nice, refreshing change of pace.鈥澛�
Some industry watchers say this difference, if embraced enough, could be key to the success of the movie.聽
鈥淭hat fourth-wall-breaking is what can set Deadpool apart,鈥� wrote. 鈥溾�ake Deadpool outright hysterical and you're on to the sure-fire winner.鈥�