Bucking the trend of superhero blockbusters in more ways than one, 2016’s Deadpool shot to unexpected success after being made on a reported budget of $58 million – a fraction of everyday global smashes. NME’s review called it a “stylishly salty antidote to bloated recent superhero movies,” and it became one of the year’s biggest hits.
How do you follow-up a low-budget smash with ten times the expectation, especially when the original took 11 years to complete? Work is already underway on a follow-up – and here’s everything you need to know about Deadpool 2’s story, cast and release date. Anyone unfamiliar with Deadpool’s plot, do not read on – it’s spoilers o’clock down there.
When is Deadpool 2 released?
It’s been announced that the film will come out on May 18, two weeks earlier that previously planned.
Have we seen a Deadpool 2 trailer?
https://youtu.be/P-iAgaNMnA8
A new trailer was released Thursday (April 19), featuring a sly shot at Avengers: Infinity War. The Marvel movie is due for release on April 27, having moved forward a week, reportedly to put more time between it and the Deadpool sequel. In the new teaser, Deadpool references Thanos, the main villain the Avengers will face off against. “Pump those hate brakes, Thanos,” he says to the camera in the action-filled clip, right after Cable (Josh Brolin) is seen on the rampage. Watch it above.
The first full-length trailer has just been released. It begins with Deadpool jumping through a taxi window as he escapes from a crowd of enemies, before he returns to fiancée Vanessa’s apartment. “Sorry I’m late,” he tells her. “I was rounding up all the gluten in the world and launching it into space where it can’t not hurt us ever again.”
The new teaser also shows Josh Brolin’s Cable telling Deadpool, “I’m here for the kid”, prompting the hero to form a “super-duper fucking group” he dubs “the X-Force” to defeat the time-travelling mutant. Watch it above now.
Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds last week (March 4) shared a short film called No Good Deed, which acts as the first glimpse of what to expect from a sequel. It shows alter ego Wade Wilson going full Superman by witnessing a mugging take place, before heroically racing into the nearest phone booth and, in true Deadpool style, taking an age to get changed into superhero gear. By the time he exits the booth, the villain in this piece has already a hasty exit. But fear not – there’s still time for a cameo from Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee. The video, launched on Reynolds’ YouTube channel, comes with the description: “Wade and the other girls from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants plan a trip to Cabot Cove.”
One last thing! The new Deadpool piece is NOT a teaser or trailer. It is a short. None of its footage will appear in Deadpool 2.
— Rhett Reese (@RhettReese) March 4, 2017
In November 2017 a Bob Ross parody trailer was released, which shows Deadpool imitating the legendary painter.
In March 2018, a ‘Green Band’ trailer included a clip of Deadpool sharing his thoughts on the man bun trend, calling it a “millennial mullet”. See that beneath.
What about a poster?
Ryan Reynolds has taken to Twitter to share the posters for the film, including this one for Thanksgiving:
Thanksgiving in our house is a glorious, non-stop car accident set to the music of cocaine. pic.twitter.com/ngCdgtpgct
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) November 9, 2017
And this one, which is a tribute to the 1983 flick ‘Flashdance’.
Take your passion. And make it happen. #Deadpool pic.twitter.com/7MY7z7x6pj
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) February 6, 2018
Which new characters are appearing in Deadpool 2?
1. Cable
Who is he? This flat top-donning comic character appeared in Fabian Nicieza’s ‘Cable & Deadpool’ comic series from 2004. Whether Deadpool 2 takes a direct adaptation of the series is yet to be confirmed. Cable’s Marvel Comics story sees him infected by a virus that can only be cured by travelling in the future. He takes on telekinetic and super strength abilities, travelling back to the past in order to prevent ills that would otherwise plague the future.
Who’s playing him? Josh Brolin has been announced to play Cable – beating out the likes of Brad Pitt, Pierce Brosnan and Russell Crowe – who were also touted for the role.
Brolin has also shared the first glimpse of him as the character, with a behind the scenes look of his transformation into Cable on Instagram.
Cable also takes centre stage in a newly-released trailer. See below:
Here’s a little hit of PCP. #PremiumCablePackage #Deadpool #Cable pic.twitter.com/u01k0BGU8c
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) February 7, 2018
2. Domino
Who is she? This fan-favourite mutant made her Marvel debut in 1992. She possesses the ability to bend luck to her will, meaning she always had an edge when squaring up to an adversary. She started out as a mercenary but is now a member of the X-Men and uses her awesome athletic abilities and formidable skills as a markswoman for good. She’s also known for having a sharp and witty sense of humour, which will obviously come in useful in a Deadpool movie.
Who’s playing her? After Sienna Miller, Janelle Monáe and Orange is the New Black’s Ruby Rose were all linked to the to role, Ryan Reynolds announcd that Zazie Beetz had been cast as Domino on his Twitter back in March.
Zazie Beetz Effect. pic.twitter.com/Kvtyk1aI7O
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) March 9, 2017
Reynolds also shared the first look of Beetz as Domino on Twitter.
Some people just know how to work a red carpet. #Domino #DeadPool2 pic.twitter.com/llCc8JfKT6
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) July 31, 2017
3. Black Tom Cassidy
Who is he? In the books, Black Tom Cassidy is the enemy of his cousin Banshee (who appears in ‘ X-Men: First Class’), and finds his energy through plant life. He’s reportedly going to be the baddie in the latest film. Cassidy’s link to Deadpool for the film hasn’t been confirmed – but in the books he contracts a type of plant mutation and seeking a cure, sets his sites on Deadpool’s healing factor.
Who’s playing him? According to Deadline Jack Kesy will be playing the villain.
Who else is involved?
Deadpool 2 got off to a rocky start in October 2016 when Deadpool director Tim Miller pulled out of the sequel. Reported “creative differences” between Miller and Ryan Reynolds led to the former’s departure. Reynolds, who was credited as a producer on the original film, is said to have a bigger influence on a sequel – something backed up by the No Good Deed short he posted online.
Miller went on the record after his departure to deny claims he wanted to follow-up the small budget success of Deadpool with a more lavish sequel. “I just want to say one thing to the geek audience out there, because it’s important to me what the geeks and nerds of the world think because they are my brothers and sisters. I didn’t want to make some stylised movie that was three times the budget,” he told a CG Garage panel. Giving his best wishes to new director David Leitch, he added: “If you read the internet — who cares, really? But for those of you who do, I wanted to make the same kind of movie that we made before because I think that’s the right movie to make for the character. So don’t believe what you read on the internet.”
Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who wrote the original film, are also scripting the sequel. Producer Simon Kinberg has this to say about a follow-up: “I think Deadpool 2 will comment on anything that’s happening in movies today especially in superhero movies. The sort of glut or saturation of these movies and the proliferation of sequels is definitely something we’ll play around with.”
What do we know about the Deadpool 2 plot?
The comic book character’s creator Rob Liefeld has said that the sequel will be like ‘Rush Hour’. Speaking to ComicBook.com in an interview he spoke about Josh Brolin’s casting of Cable, and how it means Deadpool has met his match, saying: “He’s such a great actor, that’s where it starts, and gravitas, and who else really is going to hold their ground with Ryan as Wade/Deadpool. That is energy unbridled, and so you’ve gotta hold your ground. When I see the two of them I’m like “It’s going to be comic book’s equivalent to Rush Hour, and I don’t know if comic fans are ready for it. I think it’s going to be great.”
With Deadpool and Cable having central roles, Deadpool 2 could have close ties to a potential X-Force movie. Both characters famously linked arms in X-Force, forming key roles in a giant mutant squad. A Deadpool and Wolverine crossover was rumoured late last year, but not as part of the full sequel. A scene was reportedly shot for Wolverine film Logan, set to appear in the movie’s closing credits. 20th Century Fox has yet to make comment on the speculation, but a Deadpool and X-Men crossover is unlikely to define the full plot.
Reynolds has also teased a return to the X-Mansion, which Deadpool visited in the first film to recruit Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Colossus, sharing this photo on Twitter:
Dropped by the X-Mansion. Big fucking surprise. No one's home. pic.twitter.com/svbUMEdKbb
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) June 17, 2017
And there have been reshoots?
Reports recently suggested that yes, reshoots had been ordered, allegedly to add more footage of the new characters Cable and Domino.
However, co-star Brianna Hildebrand – who plays Negasonic Teenage Warhead – has addressed suggestions that the original cut received poor responses in test screenings.
“It was nothing that had gone wrong,” Hildebrand said. “I think it’s a common misconception too – that people think that reshoots are to fix things that people didn’t like.”
“A lot of the time, reshoots are to add more of the things that people loved. [Filmmakers] watch their films again and are like ‘better fix that’. I don’t know how much I can say about that. Usually films hate it when you talk about their reshoots – solely because people think that it’s because the film was bad for the test audience – but it was all good.”
What do we know about the soundtrack?
While the first Deadpool OST featured songs by the likes of George Michael, Salt-N-Pepa and DMX, the second one will consist of 12 tracks in total, including two original songs.
Deadpool 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be released on May 18 (available for pre-order now).
It will feature tracks by artists as varied as Cher, Dolly Parton and Peter Gabriel, as well as Run The Jewels, Skrillex and A-Ha.
The two original songs are ‘Ashes’ by Celine Dion and ‘Welcome To The Party’ by Diplo, French Montana, Lil Pump and Zhavia Ward.
A music video has been released for the Dion track, which sees Deadpool bust out some dance moves alongside the singer.
The tracklist is below:
- Ashes – Celine Dion
- Welcome To The Party – Diplo, French Montana & Lil Pump (feat. Zhavia Ward)
- Nobody Speak – DJ Shadow feat. Run The Jewels
- In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel
- Take On Me (MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice) – a-ha
- If I Could Turn Back Time – Cher
- 9 to 5 – Dolly Parton
- All Out Of Love – Air Supply
- We Belong – Pat Benatar
- Tomorrow – Alicia Morton
- Mutant Convoy – Tyler Bates
- Bangarang (feat. Sirah) – Skrillex