Deadpool is the first big blockbuster of 2016. It’s hard to believe that something that started off as leaked footage at San Diego Comic-Con in 2014 and is now a major motion picture opening in a theater near you next week. After the success of X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2014, Deadpool is 20th Century Fox’s next chance to continue expanding the X-Men Cinematic Universe.
Deadpool is expected to be a big hit in the U.S. and overseas, thanks in part to the likability of the character himself and Fox’s amazing marketing. It was no easy task to re-introduce the anti-superhero back into movies, after a disastrous appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine; however, Fox has been doing a very good job putting Deadpool in interesting and memorable situations.
After appearing in funny TV spots for Australia Day and during The Bachelor TV show, Deadpool now appears in two new TV spots for Hong Kong and Taiwan. While Deadpool is banned in mainland China for excessive violence, it’s still opening in Hong Kong and Taiwanese movie markets. The first TV spot (above) features the Merc with the Mouth wishing you and your family a Happy Year of the Monkey, while the second (below) features Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds introducing a new TV spot for the Chinese territories.
The new TV spots look great, but they don’t really feature any new footage from Deadpool’s movie. They nonetheless do a solid job of setting up the overall tone and story for the film, which explores Wade Wilson/Deadpool’s origins and pursuit of revenge on the people who nearly destroyed his life. Considering the new TV spots for the Hong Kong and Taiwan movie markets, it’s going to be interesting to see how hefty Deadpool’s box office will be without the lucrative mainland China in the mix.
Fox also released a new clip featuring Deadpool, Colossus (Stefan Kapičić), and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) as they face off against Ajax (Ed Skrein) and Angel Dust (Gina Carano). The new clip also features Deadpool’s brand of humor and his mutant ability to “break the fourth wall” and comment on the action. While the new movie is expected to be action-packed, it’s also expected to be a laugh-out-loud comedy and satire on the superhero movie genre, as the new clip suggests.
It certainly seems from all the marketing and good word-of-mouth based on early fan screenings that Deadpool could well prove to be one special superhero movie. There are already rumblings of a sequel just based on early box office projections and positive fan responses alone.
Deadpool opens in theaters on February 12, 2016, followed by X-Men: Apocalypse on May 27, 2016; Gambit sometime in 2017; Wolverine 3 on March 3, 2017; and an untitled X-Men film on July 13, 2018. The New Mutants is also currently in development.
Source: 20th Century Fox
