Will Deadpool 2 Drown Under the Hype?

Does anyone else get the feeling like they are being assaulted (in the best way, possible) with Deadpool news? It seems like every week we are getting hit with some new Deadpool news or something weird Ryan Reynolds is doing in costume. Recently, we found out that Piers Brosnan may be taking the role as Cable, and Hugh Jackman may make a guest appearance. For me, every piece of news comes with a bit of anxiety over whether or not another big time movie will disappoint me like so many before it. Deadpool has shattered box office records as the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time, beating out Jesus for the number one spot (I don’t think Jesus Cares), but it begs the question: Can Deadpool 2 live up to the hype?

Deadpool 2 has notoriously been known for its administrative problems. It was a huge story when director Tim Miller withdrew from the project because of creative differences with Ryan Reynolds. Tim Miller was one of the major forces behind Deadpool’s success in theatres. His vision and effects skill made it entertaining and unique. Ryan Reynolds was obviously also a huge part of the success. His fandom and understanding of the character forced Fox to stay true to what the fans wanted. The problem comes to question whether Ryan Reynolds has too much control over the project. The thing to remember about superheroes is that comic books do not directly translate to film. Any successful comic movie must alter the original character to make it more adaptable, while still remaining true to the character. The first Deadpool movie did this excellently, and that was very much attributed to the collaboration of those two. Now the problem arises as to whether that balance will be thrown off. Without someone to check him, Ryan Reynolds may attempt to make the character to similar to the source material, making the movie unenjoyable to the vast majority. Fox has brought in another director to hopefully add a balancing effect to the film. The problem still remains that Reynolds got rid of Miller, what’s to stop him from getting rid of this new guy.

There is one, possibly more pressing, issue that should be obvious to anyone, who has read a decent amount of Deadpool. He gets annoying. If you’ve read one Deadpool comic in your life you probably thought, it was great. If you read two you probably thought, it was good. I can assure you that it continues to degrade the more you read. Some of the stuff is awesome, but a lot of the stuff is repetitive. A lot of work must go into making sure Deadpool 2 is not just a remake of the first. There are only so many fourth wall breaks and Hugh Jackman jokes you can do, before people get tired of it. The first Deadpool had a life time’s worth of material to use to keep the comedy going; whereas, Deadpool 2 has about a year. The writers and Reynolds are going to have to work very hard to make sure it isn’t two hours of the same old thing.