After Fantastic Faux: Fox gives Marvel fans the Deadpool they deserve

With fellow bloggers at the #DeadpoolPH IMAX premiere

20th Century Fox’s film adaptations of Marvel properties seemed to be always afraid of embracing the source material - we saw that from a less whiny Emma Frost from “X-Men: First Class” to last year’s biggest disappointment - Fantastic Four sans the fun and witty banter of Marvel’s first family. This year’s hit movie - Deadpool, is a breath of fresh air from the studio, erasing the wretchedness of the character from his debut on “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.”

Sure, Negasonic Teenage Warhead is a precog and not a Nitro-like character in the comics; and Angel Dust should have been weaker than the powerhouse Colossus, but I will let that pass. The movie’s Deadpool is straight out of the comics; so is the classic Piotr Rasputin - complete with his Russian accent, metallic lines and ironically, a soft heart. 

Seeing X-Men characters in comedic, light situations is also faithful to the comics. The previous X-films are mostly depressing in tone. Bryan Singer needs to brush up on X-Men history, where the team has also held baseball matches in classic issues.

Thanks to actor Ryan Reynolds, we finally see an arguably close interpretation of the character. His ridiculousness and sexiness make him fit the Merc-in-the-Mouth. The references to Green Lantern and his previous appearance as Deadpool are hilarious. Deadpool’s non-linear narrative, injected with Deadpool’s trademark of breaking the fourth wall, makes the movie more engaging to watch.

Borrowing Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn’s words—Deadpool is successful because it is original. While familiar to those who read the comics, the movie version is nothing we have seen before. Fox should take notes from the success of Deadpool to win hearts of Marvel fans.

Rating: 10/10