2016 has been a wild, wild ride for us all. And we would be remiss if we weren't to acknowledge that there's been a lot of shit that we didn't fuck with this year. So welcome to Complex Pop's annual Week of Disappointment where each day this week, one staffer will talk about their greatest disappointment of 2016.
Growing up, I was the guy that would get pissed when everyone hopped on the bandwagon about the things I held dear to my heart, be it a great album or a beautiful film. As I've grown older, I've learned to control that habit; the internet makes it easier to connect with like-minded music and movie lovers before those pieces of entertainment become national conversations. Sadly, being one of the biggest Deadpool stans in my world has made me feel some type of way with the different, random people who are all of the sudden repping for the Merc With a Mouth.
Keep in mind, I rode for Deadpool, early. When I heard it was getting that hard R rating, I was enamored; over the past 25 years since the character was created, he grew into the crude, ultraviolent, fourth wall-breaking mercenary while gaining a cult following in comic book circles. When written correctly, Deadpool is a true comic book aficionado's dream, able to crack wise on corny comic book tropes while captivating you into those exact tropes at the same damn time. At the end of the day, he wants to be a hero; he's just a bit too fucked in the head, so his idea of what a "hero" is doesn't gel with his appetite for destruction. Either way, the record-breaking, smaller-budget superhero flick was a surprise hit, and (sadly) turned me into that high schooler who grew tired of the hype that one of his favorite things garnered.
Hell, I was tired with the Viacom takeover and the shit emoji billboards, but it fit with the crass commercialization that would go with Deadpool getting his own film. What I wasn't here for was Taylor Swift rocking Ryan Reynolds' actual Deadpool gear for Halloween.
While I get the fact that Blake Lively is a part of Taylor's squad, you know Taylor ain't really about that Deadpool life. If she was, why wouldn't she have done the obvious thing and go out as Lady Deadpool, which is an actual (amazing) thing in the world of Marvel? It gets worse, though. Confirmed terrible human being Chris Brown went out on the town a day earlier dressed up like Deadpool, which when I saw it, just made me sick.
The problem here is that while Wade would probably ironically fuck with Taylor's music (he does have a thing for Bea Arthur), he'd no doubt straight up maim Chris Brown for his many acts of douchebaggery. You know how you felt when every other woman at the Halloween party was dressed up as Harley Quinn this year? That's how I felt seeing these two dressed up as my absolute favorite comic book character. Somehow, it gets worse.
Now that's no Photoshop; that's the actual banner for the @MoMAFilm page, celebrating the December 19, 2016 screening of Deadpool at the MoMA as a part of their Contenders series, which highlights "influential, innovative films made in the past 12 months that we believe will stand the test of time." Most film snobs (including some of my favorite TITLE IN ALL CAPS-writing coworkers) would scoff at its inclusion, but I'm more thinking "Really? So this has gone from a bloody, nerdy mess to something actual rich white people are calling 'innovative' and 'influential'?" I don't disagree, which has me conflicted; am I losing my Deadpool?
I felt like I almost did, honestly. With Deadpool director Tim Miller leaving the Deadpool sequel over "creative differences" with Ryan Reynolds, followed by composer Junkie XL, I was in a panic, and wouldn't talk to anyone about the fate of my favorite murderous hero. Especially if the talk was getting Quentin Tarantino into the director's chair for Deadpool 2. Thank Black Jesus for John Wick's David Leitch stepping up to direct Deadpool 2; I wouldn't know what to do with myself if some trash director was at the helm.
See, the enormous success of Deadpool is a double-edged sword; with GQ Man of the Year Ryan Reynolds now sliding into the role of Fox's superhero golden child, after being so adamant about getting the movie made the right way, he appears to have the Fox bigwigs on speed dial. That's dope when his aim is to maintain the integrity of the character; it can also be a hindrance, which could spell trouble for my future enjoyment of the series.
Actually, who am I kidding; I'll be front and center when Deadpool 2 drops. Just don't let the fake Hollywood bandwagoners and Fox's desire to capitalize on the only superhero property they're getting right turn the illest superhero film of 2016 into another X3 or something. Don't make Deadpool eat himself.
