Spoiler alert: This article contains major spoilers for ‘Deadpool 2’.
Deadpool’s journey has been a bumpy one. He was rejected by the studios, butchered by another film (which we’ll name and shame later) and shelved for many years. However, thanks to Ryan Reynolds, he took the world by storm in 2016 and is back again with a bang in 2018. And considering how the actor’s a huge fan of Deadpool, he along with the writers and the directors have managed to keep him as comic-book accurate as possible.
Wade Wilson is a character who’s aware that he’s in a comic-book movie and is thus able to communicate with us through a variety of pop-culture references. He has the liberty to hilariously call out things that might be or might not be happening in his universe. And ‘Deadpool’ had plenty of that. However, if you think that that was the peak of writing in-jokes and Easter Eggs, you’ll be glad to know that ‘Deadpool 2’ has topped that.
‘Deadpool 2’ utilizes Wade Wilson’s motormouth and lets him punch at everything from Logan to Ryan Reynolds himself. So, let’s take a look at all of them.
Deadpool hates ‘Logan’.
‘Deadpool 2’ starts with Deadpool trying to kill himself and that’s where we see a toy version of Wolverine impaled on a piece of wood. It’s a clear nod to the end of ‘Logan’ when X-24 lands the final blow to kill Wolverine.
Dopinder loves ‘Interview with the Vampire’.
While ‘Deadpool’ Dopinder was a meek and innocent, ‘Deadpool 2’ Dopinder has a blood-lust and wants to be a contract killer. He says that he is inspired by Deadpool and compares their relationship to that of Tom Cruise and Kirsten Dunst’s in 1994’s ‘Interview with the Vampire’.
“Save Martha”.
There’s quite a few digs at the DC Extended Universe. But the first one comes when Deadpool comes back home to his girlfriend, who’s angry at him because he’s late. One of the excuses that he uses to pacify her is that he became best friends with a guy dressed in a bat suit after he knew that both of their mother’s names are Martha. That’s referring to the controversial ‘Martha’ moment of ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’.
Wade probably hasn’t watched ‘Star Wars’ properly.
As Deadpool says that this is a family film, there’s a lot of talk about family. So when Wade talks about his past to Vanessa, he makes a reference to Luke Skywalker from ‘Star Wars’. However, the only problem is that he thinks that Luke and Leia had sex. Maybe he’s right.
Opening credits.
The opening credits of ‘Deadpool 2’ is an obvious reference to James Bond movies, which usually feature elements from the movie, stunning visuals and a melodious song. The funny names are a callback to the opening credits of ‘Deadpool’. There’s also a dig at David Leitch (director of ‘Deadpool 2’ and ‘John Wick’) saying that he killed John Wick’s dog.
So much for originality ‘Frozen’.
After Vanessa is killed, Wade goes to a bar and sings ‘Papa, Can You Hear Me?’ from ‘Yentl’. However, he then realises that it sounds awfully similar to ‘Frozen’s ‘Do You Want To Build A Snowman?’. It’s an in-joke regarding Ryan Reynolds, who had to watch ‘Frozen’ with his kids countless times. Fun fact: that bar scene has Matt Damon in it. Happy searching!
Deadpool didn’t lie to Blind Al.
In ‘Deadpool’, the Merc with a mouth told Blind Al that there’s 116 kilos of cocaine in the apartment, right next to the cure for blindness. Well, turns out that he wasn’t joking. Because before blowing himself up, Wade pulls out a bag of cocaine from under the floor, very near to where Blind Al sits. And guess what was beside it? A VHS tape labelled ‘Cure for Blindness’.
Deadpool loves anything related to horses.
Okay, we know what Deadpool does in his spare time with a stuffed unicorn. But little did we know that he loves ‘My Little Pony’, which is a Hasbro based franchise consisting of sentient ponies and unicorns. So, when Deadpool sees Yukio, Negasonic Teenage Warhead’s girlfriend, he refers to her as Pinkie Pie (a character from ‘MLP’) due to her pink hair.
‘Fox and Friends’ is an insult.
‘Fox and Friends’ is a show on Fox TV that’s consistently pro-Donald Trump and are quite known for being overtly judgmental. So, when Deadpool seems surprised to see Negasonic with a girlfriend, she thinks that he’s homophobic. However, Deadpool claps back at her by calling her ‘Fox and Friends’, thereby using it almost like an expletive.
There are more X-Men in the X-Mansion.
‘Deadpool’ called out the lack of X-Men in Xavier’s mansion and blamed the studios for not being able to afford them. In his second visit to the mansion, we can see Prof. Xavier’s famous wheelchair. But that doesn’t satisfy Pool and he goes on his usual rant. However, what he misses is the X-Men (Beast, Quicksilver etc.) standing in a room with Beast promptly closing the door before he sees them.
X-Men’s dated racial metaphor.
All X-Men movies have heavily featured themes of discrimination and racism. And while we’re able to approach it so openly now, it wasn’t so easy in the 60’s. So, the writers used the X-Men to do so. And considering how Deadpool is an X-Man (Trainee!) here, he references that while talking to an African-American police officer.
Negasonic looks like Justin Bieber?
When Deadpool gets closer to Russell, he threatens him by saying that he’s going to blow up Justin Bieber. Turns out he was referring to Negasonic Teenage Warhead as the pop-star. Additionally, it might be a dig at Justin Bieber, Ryan Reynolds and Deadpool’s Canadian origins.
Colossus channels his inner Robocop.
Colossus is portrayed as a very staunch supporter of justice and non-violence. So, he spouts a line from 1987’s ‘Robocop’ saying, “Come quietly or there will be … trouble”. Deadpool and Russell understand that reference and says that he’s out of lines and is just quoting Robocop now.
Jared Kushner and the Hero moment.
After Russell is restrained, Deadpool asks him that which one of the guards at Essex House hurt him. Since he doesn’t know their names, he refers to one of them as Jared Kushner, who’s Donald Trump’s son-in-law and advisor. And before killing that guy, Deadpool calls back to Colossus’s ‘Be a hero’ speech with a little sperm-based twist.
Comparisons to Hawkeye and Harry Potter.
When Deadpool and Russell is taken to a prison, he says he’s excited to know which house he’ll join and if there’s a Harry Potter like Sorting Hat that’ll do that job. And since the mutant-power dampener brings back his cancer, Deadpool says that if he’s equipped with a bow and arrow, he’ll basically be Hawkeye. Meaning that he’ll be useless.
“I’m Batman!”
Cable has a complicated tiff with Russell and comes to kill him. However he has to go through Deadpool, who begins to regain his powers after a mishap. Surprised by his inability to die, Cable asks Deadpool about his identity. Deadpool says, “I’m Batman!”, thus referring to the iconic catchphrase used by every Batman till now.
Sharknado sequels galore.
‘Sharknado’ is parody franchise that, as the title suggests, is about a tornado with sharks in it. However, since it’s hugely popular, it keeps pumping out sequels left, right and centre. So, Deadpool says to Cable that if he’s really from the future, he would be able to say which installment they’re currently at.
More digs at the DC and Marvel Universe.
The fight between Deadpool and Cable is one of the best hand-to-hand fight sequences. However, that doesn’t stop Wade from comparing Cable’s morbid one-liners to the tone of Zack Snyder’s DC Universe. Additionally, he says that he’s fed up with guys with one metal arm, thus referring to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Winter Solider/Bucky’s metal arm.
X-Force audition has a Tim Burton connection.
Deadpool recruits some mutants for his X-Force team, which strangely has Brad Pitt in it. And while that is hilarious to watch, many will miss the gun in the background with a flag sticking out of it labelled ‘Bang!’. It’s a reference to Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’ where Jack Nicholson’s Joker sported a gun with that same flag.
Deadpool takes a dig at Rob Liefield and Cable.
Rob Liefield is the creator of Deadpool but even he can’t escape Deadpool’s sass. His first punch comes when Domino is explaining her powers and Deadpool says that only a person who can’t draw feet must’ve defined her powers. It’s a reference to Liefield’s style of drawing sleek feet. Additionally, as Cable is criticized for being similar to the Terminator, Wade refers to him as John Connor.
Deadpool is a fan of the Juggernaut.
Russell lets loose the Juggernaut to survive Cable’s assault. And when Deadpool meets him, he has a fanboy moment and refers to ‘The Mighty Thor #411′ and ‘Uncanny X-Men #183′. Those comics shaped Juggernaut’s lore. However, Deadpool’s soon tore into half by Juggernaut which causes him to say “I can’t feel my legs”, similar to what Xavier said in ‘First Class’. Fun fact: That’s Ryan Reynolds as Juggernaut.
Deadpool’s ‘Basic Instinct’ moment.
In what might be the movie’s most hilarious moment, Deadpool is seen recovering with baby legs, after being torn apart by Juggernaut. And he uses those legs to good use by crossing them in the way Sharon Stone did in a risque scene from ‘Basic Instinct’. I feel bad for Cable because he had to see that.
Rejoice Shah Rukh Khan fans!
When Deadpool, Dopinder, Domino and Cable are on their way to stop Russell from making his first kill, you can hear a familiar song on Dopinder’s radio. Yes, that’s ‘Yuhi Chala Chal Rahi’ from Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Swades’ and Deadpool loves it.
Black Widow references.
Black Widow is referenced earlier when Deadpool calls Domino ‘Black Black Widow’. Additionally, when he takes on the Juggernaut, he uses her famous “the sun’s getting real low” line. Yeah, it doesn’t work and Deadpool gets punked once again.
Green Lantern and ‘Origins’ Deadpool doesn’t exist.
Do you think Dr. Strange is great at time travel? Well, think again. Because Deadpool takes a time travelling device and puts it to the best use. First off, he goes and kills the atrocious version of Deadpool in ‘X-Men: Origins – Wolverine’. Then he kills off Ryan Reynolds before he could ever make ‘Green Lantern’. Thank you, Deadpool!
Like I said, ‘Deadpool 2’ packs in a lot of references and has a lot of Easter Eggs in it. However, these are the ones that are the most apparent and makes the movie all the more funnier. Which references did you catch and are there any that we’ve missed?