DEADPOOLA2 Case Study by Nargis and Alisha

Directed by: Tim MillerProduced by: Simon Kinberg, Ryan Reynolds, Lauren Shuler DonnerWritten by: Rhett Reese, Paul WernickBased on: Deadpool by Fabian Nicieza, Rob LiefeldStarring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Gina Carano, Leslie Uggams, Brianna HildebrandMusic by: Tom HolkenborgCinematography: Ken SengEdited by: Julian ClarkeProduction Companies: Marvel Entertainment, Kinberg Genre, The Donners’ Company, TSG EntertainmentDistributed by: 20th Century FoxRelease Dates: February 8th 2016 (Le Grand Rex), February 12th 2016 (united States)Running Time: 108 minutesBudget: $58 millionBox Office: $782.6 million

PlotWade Wilson is a small-time mercenary. He meets Vanessa and falls in love. Life is idyllic until one day he is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Things look bleak but a man appears who says he can be cured, through a treatment that gives him superhero powers. After initially turning him down, Wilson agrees, and meets the man behind the project, Ajax. While undergoing the treatment he discovers that it will involve him becoming a mutant, and he will need to undergo several painful tests to discover what his mutant abilities are. Plus, Ajax is a sadist. The treatment results in Wilson getting powers of accelerated healing but also leaves him terribly disfigured. Ajax tries to keep him a prisoner but he escapes. He now has two aims: find Vanessa and make Ajax pay for what he did to him. Killing Ajax may not be as easy it seems, as Ajax is also a mutant and the meddling superhero Colossus and his sidekick Negasonic Teenage Warhead keep getting in the way. Wade Wilson is now operating under an alias: Deadpool.

Deadpool as nihilisticDeadpool does not believe in meaning or intention, in god, does not believe in religion, and does not believe in

morality. Deadpool’s life appears to be without meaning, without purpose, at least there is no fixed point of reference, rule, or end, but instead randomness and meaninglessness. He is against the idea of a meta-narrative, being

mentally unstable, he seems to never give the same story of life, or to have an identity, and is constantly creatively thinking about his story. Deadpool dismisses or overcomes the category of living/killing implying the moral for the

category of alive/un-alive implying non-moral. He is characterized more than anti-belief, as non-belief, that is withholding or suspending religious and moral beliefs.

Why/how is it postmodern?● He is hyper aware that he is in a movie/comic book as he speaks to

his audience, breaking the 4th wall.● He is a hero with deep personal flaws and a hideous appearance.● Deadpool can take part in the narrative and comment on it at the same

time.● Deadpool is a comic figure that manifests the characteristics of

nihilism, deconstruction, and the reversal of power roles (these are aspects of the postmodern mood in Derrida and Foucault).

● This tension, between the old world and postmodernism, is played out in a couple different ways in the film. Colossus is constantly asking Deadpool to cut out the shenanigans and join the X Men, as if to rope him into the role of a good superhero family friendly, righteous, and so on.

● Deadpool’s humor is largely driven by this sense of cynicism and ironic distance. Whether he’s being tortured, or about to be gruesomely maimed, Deadpool remains unphased in the face of what would normally be considered high stakes situations. Even the tension of combat scenes are undercut by self aware humor.

● He risks nothing. He just makes fun of everything. Deadpool doesn’t claim to be a good guy.