Marvel Comics Capitalizes on Deadpool & Wolverine Success by Replacing Deadpool With a Girl
Deadpool & Wolverine is an even bigger hit than everyone thought it would be, which Odin explained in detail. This is the biggest win for Marvel in quite a while, not only because of the opening but because this movie will likely continue to make money, as its A Cinemascore suggests audiences are enjoying it. And I think we all know why: it was a fun movie with two beloved characters being played by the actors fans love to see in the roles, and it comes at a time when the rest of the MCU has been drowning in awful woke crap that nobody likes. This is an oasis in the desert, even if it has a lot of problems with its plot and character work. Moviegoers needed something fun that didn’t push left-wing politics and social issues into what’s supposed to be popular entertainment. Now, a smart company would get the message and change course, abandoning their holy crusade to lecture people about socialism, open borders, the patriarchy, and race relations and focus on fun superhero adventures. But Marvel is not a smart company anymore, and they’re following up a successful Deadpool movie that has everyone excited and craving more of the Merc With a Mouth with this:
JUST REVEALED AT #MARVELSDCC:
Deadpool is dead, long live Deadpool! Get your first look at Wade’s daughter Ellie taking up the mantle in two new covers, and follow her new mission in ‘Deadpool’ #7 by writers Cody Ziglar and Alexis Quasarano, with art by Andrea Di Vito this… pic.twitter.com/bkUT7Ty9Um
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) July 26, 2024
That’s right, they’re killing off Deadpool in the comics and replacing him with a girl, because of course they are. To be completely fair, Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios are different companies, though both are owned by Disney, so it’s not like Kevin Feige is ordering this (although it seems like something he would do, which nobody would have believed if you said it five years ago). But it’s still the Marvel brand, and it’s still one of the dumbest things I’ve seen in… probably a week or so. The comic book division of Marvel is failing to capitalize on what will almost certainly be a billion-dollar movie that will get people out to the three or four comic book stores that still exist – or Amazon and Barnes and Noble – to grab some Deadpool and Wolverine comics, and perhaps a few featuring some of those surprise cameo characters. And again, the writing was on the wall with this one; Deadpool & Wolverine was clearly going to be huge. And the way Marvel Comics prepared for that was to set up a story where they killed Wade Wilson and made his daughter the new Deadpool. It’s like they’re allergic to money.
This is the point I keep making about how the people in charge of these companies and studios are now activists before businessmen or artists. They may be crazy, but they’re not crazy enough to think audiences will suddenly embrace the girlboss phenomenon, especially following a movie devoid of that reminding them what entertainment once was. They just don’t care; they’re so devoted to their loony ideology that they’re scuttling a sure moneymaker to make a DEI story. What’s crazy is that they could have done something like this and had it fit with the movie, where (this in the trailers) there’s a female Deadpool variant; why not have Deadpool team up with Girlpool or whatever her name is for some wacky fun? Because that’s not what they want; they want a girl to be the “real” Deadpool, just like they want Sam Wilson to be the “real” Captain America and Miles Morales to be the “real” Spider-Man. I fully expect the Wolverine tie-ins to be about X-23, who must be the “real” Wolverine, because if one thing is for sure, the audience is turning out for Dafne Keen, not that Hugh Jackman guy.
What’s even crazier is that Marvel announced this at the San Diego Comic-Con this weekend. They had a massive platform that not only had a huge number of fans in attendance but wide media coverage, and their announcement was, “Deadpool’s a girl now.” These are the actions of a zealot, not an artist. And this isn’t the first time Marvel has pulled this; a Midnight’s Edge video on the topic recalls that the All New, All Different Marvel initiative started during the MCU’s heyday, when the comics should have been pushing the characters featured in the movies and enjoying a business boom. That time, they thought they could use the MCU’s success to get people to accept the “improved” versions of the characters, and it didn’t work. Then, the movies themselves tried it, and it hasn’t been working. But Marvel refuses to learn from their failures or their successes (unless it’s learning the wrong lesson, like “Let’s get Robert Downey Jr. back, but not as Iron Man”), so round and round we go till somebody pukes.
Comments (4)
You’re not gonna believe this, but when I was trying to think of someone to play Doom, Fiennes is the first name that popped in my head. He’s a tough one to cast, but even if he wasn’t already Iron Man, I wouldn’t pick Robert Downey Jr., as much as I like him. But that’s beside the point because he is Tony Stark, and casting him as Doctor Doom is just stupid and reductive.
Theres already Gwenpool, but no one likes her. Youd think theyd learn.
I think they don’t want to. They probably see themselves as martyrs.
RDJ is great, but none of this excites me. When the MCU was at it’s peak, it was almost for nothing because I remember on some of the streams, comic shop owners knew the comics were woke and had nothing to do with the successful MCU movies, so families would come in to buy Cap or Iron Man or Thor and instead, they’d have something gender swapped or with The Message. This stood out to me because I had already left comics prior to that and it was sad because the public is baited with an expectation, but then, there’s the switch, with the gender swaps or race swaps or bizarre bent twisted sexuality stuff.
RDJ news is boring. He’s a great one. A legend. One of the best. I suppose you almost have to go with what works, but it’s starting to remind me a bit of Van Halen or some other band that’s toured too long and doesn’t know when to quit. Plus, Doom struck me as like an Austrian or Bavarian or something like that, so I’d think someone like Jason Isaacs or Fieness or someone like that would be better. Even like Sean Bean. Sean Patrick Flanery. Casting is super tricky and I just think you either truly nail it or you don’t and RDJ nailed Tony Stark. Chris Evans, Ryan, Jackman all just perfect for their roles. I think RDJ as a villain is not congruent with what’s been done already. That’s like making Cap into a HYDRA.