X-Force … assemble?
On Thursday, we got a new trailer for Deadpool 2, the sequel to Fox’s 2016 bodily function-enamored anti-superhero superhero hit. And given these movies’ reliably tongue-in-cheek advertising, it’s a bit startling that it’s a straightforward trailer that (finally) gives us a concrete sense of what to expect from the sequel.
We find out that Josh Brolin’s Cable is after a kid (Julian Dennison, a.k.a. Ricky Baker from 2016’s Hunt For the Wilderpeople), who we can assume is probably a powerful mutant of some sort, though the trailer doesn’t indicate what his abilities might be. Being that Cable is very powerful and seemingly very grumpy, Deadpool has to assemble his own band of superpowered individuals — including Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and Colossus from the first film — to help protect the kid. He calls them “X-Force” (a team that, in recent comic book iterations, functions as the X-Men’s black-ops, murder-friendly bunch). And true to Deadpool spirit, the trailer also features a chase scene, butt grabbing, a poop joke, and inventive use of Deadpool’s regenerative mutant ability.
This is the fourth promo for the Deadpool sequel that its studio, 20th Century Fox, has released so far, and the first that gives some sense of the plot of the film, which is directed by Atomic Blonde director and former stuntman David Leitch. Last year, in March, the first promo played in theaters before showings of the studio’s Wolverine movie Logan. That first glimpse of the movie was light on details but also heavy on butts, murder, and humor — it was just Deadpool clumsily changing in a phone booth, à la Superman, while the person he was planning to help was murdered.
That irreverent-bordering-on-vulgar spirit is part of what made Deadpool such a surprise hit when it debuted in 2016, following a decade-long struggle to get Fox to make the film in the first place. By that point, fans of the comic book character were more than ready for the film’s release, and it ended up making $783 million worldwide.
Deadpool 2 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 18, 2018.
