Marvel Doubles Down on Self-Satire with the Insanely Violent and Very Funny ‘Deadpool’

Decades ago, Hollywood figured out that when cinematic cash cows have been pretty much milked dry, it’s time to for self-parody. It was inevitable that even Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy would meet Abbott and Costello, right? The Marvel brand has already dipped its toe in satire and snark with Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man, but it now takes a full-on swan dive with the insanely violent, irony-drenched and very funny Deadpool. It was a pretty cheeky move to cast Ryan Reynolds as the motor-mouthed muscle-for-hire who can wreak astoundingly graceful carnage on his enemies and almost instantly heal his body, but not his badly scarred face. Remember, Reynolds landed in movie jail for the failure-to-launch superhero epic The Green Lantern. And this is the guy they hire to play the mercenary in a no-holds-barred Marvel takedown? Well, you can stop judging. You can also stop with the Ryan Reynolds jokes. The movie, directed by animator and visual-effects artist…

by Stephen Rebello