Random Reasons Why 'Deadpool 2' Is Better Than Original (12 items)

• 

  (#1) Cable Is A Killer Addition To The Franchise

  Fans of the Cable & Deadpool comic series know the kind of relationship these two have, but newcomers don't have to know anything about Deadpool 2's antagonist to enjoy what he does. Josh Brolin's grim portrayal of Cable makes him the perfect foil for Deadpool, and he acts as the movie's singular straight man. 

  Comedy beats aside, Cable has some of the coolest fight scenes, and his narrative arc perfectly underscores the themes running throughout the film. Brolin manages to make it look like he's actually wrecking shop, and many of his biggest moments harken back to action flicks from the '80s like The Terminator and Cobra. 
• 

  (#2) The Post-Credits Sequence Is Wildly Meta

  In the film, Cable introduces his time travel tech that can only be used twice: once to bring him to the past and a final time to get him home. He uses his second time travel trip to rewind the film and keep Deadpool from dying to save Russell. 

  In the mid-credit sequence, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and her girlfriend, Yukio, fix the time machine and give it the ability to have more jumps. Instead of giving it back to Cable, Deadpool decides to travel back to the beginning of the movie and save his girlfriend, Vanessa, from being murdered. He then jumps forward to keep Peter (Rob Delaney) from being melted to death. 

  Deadpool then hops into X-Men Origins: Wolverine and murders that film's version of Deadpool. Afterwards, Deadpool goes full-on meta to 2008 and kills Ryan Reynolds before he can take the role of Green Lantern. This scene is genuinely crazy and it kind of unspools the entire movie, which is 100% what Deadpool is all about. 
• 

  (#3) It Has The X-Men Cameo Fans Have Been Waiting For

  In the first Deadpool film, Wade Wilson notes that every time he stops by Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, there's never anyone there. Deadpool 2 reveals the X-Men are actually at the school, but they don't want anything to do with him. The rationale for the lack of superhero cameos in the first film is a lot of fun, and it gives audiences a peak at the ever-expanding world of the Sony/Marvel universe. 

  As Deadpool wheels around the mansion, he yells at Colossus and the audience catches sight of Beast chatting with Quicksilver and Professor X. Sharp-eyed viewers also get a quick glimpse of Cyclops. 
• 

  (#4) The Cameos Are So Fun

  As if the film wasn't already packed to the gills with famous people in small roles, there are also cameos that whip by, bringing major stars into Deadpool's world.

  The biggest cameo comes from none other than Brad Pitt. Initially, Pitt was in the running to play Cable, but he ultimately had to drop out after a scheduling conflict. Luckily, he found time to film a five-second cameo as Vanisher, an invisible superhero whom the audience only sees when he's electrocuted to death in a set of power lines.  According to screenwriter Rhett Reese, Pitt agreed to film the cameo "for scale, which is a very, very low number, a low, low salary and a cup of coffee from Starbucks delivered to him by Ryan Reynolds."

  Pitt's Ocean's 11 co-star Matt Damon also shows up, playing a redneck who chats up another hick played by Alan Tudyk (Firefly, Rogue One). Zazie Beetz (Domino) said Damon's was her favorite cameo and noted that "he's not even listed in the credits... They don’t even give his real name and he’s in complete prosthetics." 

  The actor credited to Damon's role is "Dickie Greenleaf," the name of Jude Law's character in The Talented Mr. Ripley. In that film, Damon's character steals Law's identity, thus becoming Dickie Greenleaf. The Deadpool crew sure does love their meta moments. 
• 

  (#5) The Juggernaut Makes A Welcome Appearance

  It never seems like screenwriters know what to do with Juggernaut. In the previous X-Men movies, he just kind of runs around being menacing and not smashing enough stuff. All of that changes in Deadpool 2. When Juggernaut shows up about halfway through the movie, very little time is spent dealing with who he is and what he wants, mostly because he's the Juggernaut, and he wants to f*ck sh*t up. He does just that.

  Juggernaut not only gives our heroes a clear villain to vanquish, but he also gets his own theme song, in case there needed to be additional clarification on what his whole deal is.

   
• 

  (#6) It's So Much Weirder Than The Original

  For all of its fourth wall-breaking, meta-moments, the first Deadpool isn't all that weird, at least in comparison to the sequel. Deadpool 2 takes everything audiences love about the first film and puts incredibly odd twists on them. One of the most bizarre standout moments from the sequel is a scene where Wade Wilson, having been cut in half, grows tiny baby legs as his body slowly repairs itself. 

  This is exactly the kind of exploration of superpowers that wouldn't happen in any other film. Other surreal moments in the sequel feature characters melting, people jumping through glass windows instead of opening doors, and a full-stop to discuss proper bathroom hygiene. 
• 

  (#7) The New Supporting Cast Is Amazing

  Much of the marketing for Deadpool 2 has been based around Wade Wilson putting together a crew of superheroes to stop Cable. The marketing is a bit of a misdirect, but that doesn't make the characters any less fun. The biggest standout from the new crew is Domino (Zazie Beetz), who uses her good luck throughout the movie to navigate whatever nightmare situation Deadpool gets her in. 

  Aside from Domino, there are small (yet hilarious) roles played by Terry Crews and It's Bill Skarsgård. Neither of the actors are on screen for all that long, but they're the centerpiece of easily the most memorable scene in the movie. If that's not enough, Julian Dennison from Hunt for the Wilderpeople manages to inhabit a character who's equally empathetic and frightening. 
• 

  (#8) It's A Longer Film Than The Original But Doesn't Drag

  The first Deadpool is really funny, but at times it can feel aimless. Despite being a longer film, Deadpool 2 cuts away a lot of the fat of the first film and focuses on making every joke count. Even though the sequel adds even more zany jokes and off-the-wall set-ups, the film doesn't feel weighed down by Wade Wilson's antics.
• 

  (#9) The Action Is More Over-The-Top

  Topping the Looney Tunes level of violence from the first Deadpool is a tall order, but the sequel puts the pedal to the floor from moment one and doesn't let up. Deadpool 2 doesn't just have the Merc with a Mouth slashing people up to build a body count, though, and there are full-blown scenes of destruction that don't feel like any other contemporary films, superhero-related or not. 
• 

  (#10) The Themes Are Much Heavier

  Even though Deadpool 2 piles on the humor and violence, it still finds time to give the audience intense, emotional themes to ponder. The emotional impact of Wade Wilson dealing with the loss of his girlfriend and trying to build an informal family brings a surprising amount of feeling into a film about a smart-ass assassin who consistently breaks the fourth wall. 
• 

  (#11) All The Gags From The First Film Are Bigger And Better

  The first film gives audiences a superhero film that does things they've never seen before: Wade Wilson breaks the fourth wall, the soundtrack is filled with '90s jams that feel both sardonic and sincere, and the characters all take part in snarky joke pile-ons. Deadpool 2 ups all of that. 

  Almost every scene takes a gag from the first film and does it bigger and better, so much so that it's hard to keep up with every joke. The movie is so tightly packed with these antics that it may take more than one viewing to catch everything.
• 

  (#12) It Feels More Like The Deadpool Comics

  While the first Deadpool film introduces audiences to the meta-concepts and self-depreciating humor of the comics, it doesn't capture the essence of the comics in the way Deadpool 2 does. From the start, the series never took itself too seriously, but in the late '90s, when writer Christopher Priest took over duties from Joe Kelly, the sensibilities that began to form what audiences now know of Wade Wilson were firmly put in place. 

  The comics became more meta, more fervent, and Priest doubled down on the satire and base level humor. In many ways, Deadpool 2 is an extension of Priest's run on the series. It's both smart and dumb in the best ways possible. The action is insane, even for an action movie, and its meta moments are really meta.

  At one point, Deadpool gives an autograph by signing "Ryan Reynolds" on a box of cereal, and later the film simply rewinds itself to remind the audience they're watching a movie. 

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking