The latest trailer for Deadpool 2 debuted online this morning and offered a more conventional tack for the film series’ often anarchic marketing. We finally get a reason for future-warrior Cable (Josh Brolin) to fight Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and hints that Wade and Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) might try to move things to the next level. But it all happens at a dizzying pace to the tune of Air Supply’s “All Out of Love” and L.L. Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out,” so let’s take a look at the five fresh things we learned from the new Deadpool 2 trailer.
(Photo by © 2018 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX)
One of the most surprising elements of the first film was the genuine love story embedded within Deadpool’s origin and potty humor. Vanessa, as played by Baccarin, was his perfect match in charm, wit, and soul. But film franchises have a habit of dispensing with romantic leads like Vanessa once a sequel is assured. Just look at the way Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me undid the genuinely sweet love story between Mike Myers’s spy spoof character and Elizabeth Hurley’s Ms. Kensington by revealing she was a Fembot the whole time. But based on the moments with Vanessa in the trailer – and her suggestion that it might be time to start a family – it seems their relationship will remain intact. Well, hopefully, anyway. She is missing from scenes that are clearly set later in the film. That may not bode well for the character, despite Baccarin’s winning presence.
(Photo by © 2018 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX)
Cable, the cyborg mutant from the grim future in which war reigns supreme, finally has a purpose beyond proving Brolin can be in two Marvel-based films at the same time. His mission sees him returning to the past (or our present depending on your point of view) to capture and, likely, kill a mutant boy (Julian Dennison) with fire-starting abilities. As glimpsed at various times throughout the trailer, the boy is in a lock-up and in some sort of collar. It is not hard to suspect the device dampens his powers, which is useful considering that shot of destroyed cop cars around him. The overall impression leaves the viewer thinking Cable is the antagonist, but it is also easy to imagine the time-traveling mercenary is being played himself and will eventually ally with Deadpool. The superhero fight before making friends is a tried-and-true comic book staple of team-up stories, and the two characters have a long history of antagonizing each other even when working toward a common goal.
In one of the biggest departures from comic book lore, Deadpool will form X-Force in an effort to keep the boy safe from Cable and whatever other evil may be lurking in the film. Back in the comics, Cable formed the team out of the remaining members of the New Mutants and his earlier mercenary company the Six Pack. One of those mercs, Domino, is represented in the film by Atlanta’s Zazie Beetz. Other characters in the Deadpool version of X-Force include Terry Crews as a yet-unidentified strong man – though it is possible he is known X-Force associate G.W. Bridge – It’s Bill Skarsgård in another unknown role, and, in at least one shot, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from original X-Force member Shatterstar. It also seems Deadpool will try to recruit Colossus (a returning Stefan Kapicic), Negasonic Teenage Warehead (Brianna Hildebrand) and another mutant played by Shiori Kutsuna, who may or may not be Surge. Her comic book abilities are almost identical to the film version of Negasonic Teenage Warehead, but perhaps that redundancy will be part of the joke. If Deadpool manages to assemble all of those people into his own superteam, it might actually be enough strength to take on the man called Cable. Provided Cable doesn’t end up joining the team himself.
Deadpool’s cross-armed salute to denote X-Force bares a striking resemblance to the Wakandan salute over in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Domino even mentions that it, and the name X-Force, are fairly derivative. Considering the highly publicized reshoots that occurred in the last month, it is possible this moment – clearly poking fun at Black Panther and Deadpool’s outsider status in regard to the MCU – resulted from newly shot scenes or the film just had an amazing sense of prescience about the crossed-arm gesture. But making fun of Marvel is a Deadpool tradition straight back to the comics. In the new trailer, we see that on display with Deadpool tooling around in Professor Xavier’s wheelchair from X-Men, grabbing Colossus’s metal hinder, and that X-logo jersey he wears at one point. He also boops Negasonic Teenage Warhead’s nose, proving their relationship remains unchanged.
(Photo by © 2018 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX)
And then there’s the stinger at the end in which Deadpool and Weasel (T.J. Miller) discuss another film series that smartly stopped before a third entry. It might relate back to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants joke from earlier in the trailer – yes, there is a sequel to that film – but it also throws some shade at superhero threequels like Superman III, Batman Forever, and even Fox’s own X-Men: The Last Stand, a film fairly reviled in fan circles for committing almost every third-film error possible. At the same time, the stinger pokes fun at Deadpool‘s own franchise aspirations. It even dares you to want a Deadpool 3. Curiously, a third outing for Deadpool is expected to occur in Fox’s X-Force spin-off film. But is it really a spin-off if the original lead character is still part of it? Either way, a Deadpool 3 seems inevitable no matter how often third films fail creatively or financially. So, Deadpool 2 seems like a good place to start joking about that.
Deadpool 2 is in theaters May 18.
