The first comics-based movie of the year, Deadpool, opens in a week, but I will not reviewing it. I will not be going to see it. This is due to a strange, anomalous and apparently inconceivable attribute of my personality, to wit: I don't particularly care for Deadpool.
That's not to say I dislike him - not exactly. In very small doses, Deadpool is fine, and can even be funny. But a little bit goes a long way. I think I'd call myself apathetic when it comes to him... at best, I find the character amusing, but at worst I find him grating, obnoxious, and representative of the very worst things in both superhero comics and superhero fandom. I think the best word to describe him is 'puerile'.
For those who don't know, Deadpool is a character from the X-Men universe created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza in 1991. He was a villain initially, but became more of an anti-hero. He's a mercenary martial artist with a healing factor, but he's probably best known for his tendency to break the fourth wall, talk to the audience, and play things up for comedy. He's a fairly wacky and irreverent character who's developed his own supporting cast and enthusiastic following. He was nominally portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and though the casting was applauded, the character in the film was not. Reynolds is returning to the role this month in a standalone movie - which as I understand it, ignores the first movie - in a much more authentic depiction of the character.
My biggest problem with Deadpool really comes down to overkill, in two ways. First of all, the character's stories have played up the ludicrously violent aspects of superhero comics. This is ostensibly for purposes of parody, but given the overly dark and graphic flair of the grim'n'gritty era of comics from which the character came, as well as the fact that decapitations, mutilations and so forth have become so commonplace that Deadpool needs to continue to up the ante, it's less of a parody and more of a testament to just how desensitized comics have become. Maybe it's just me, but "Hey, look, I got a sword through the face!" isn't really all that funny. Your mileage may vary.
Which is the other side of the overkill...it's been said that "dying is easy, comedy's hard", and Deadpool has, in my experience, proved that perfectly. A fair amount of Deadpool's 'comedy' relies on dick-and-fart humor, graphic violence, innuendo, joking about Mexican food, and the character showing off his own butt. He's also pretty handy at poking fun at other characters, though I'll grant he's perfectly willing to mock himself as well. Sometimes it's funny - I've always loved the idea of a character interacting with his own thought bubbles or captions - but the problem is that just like any joke, being done over and over kills off the humor. After seeing a hundred pictures of Deadpool in sexy pose, or making fun of Wolverine, or yelling something about tacos or chimichangas, you start to expect the joke, which robs it of all novelty. If the audience can predict the joke before you make it, it's really not all that funny. That's why I prefer Deadpool in small increments...well-timed cameos or guest appearances, that sort of thing...leaving before the joke gets old. Unfortunately, what we end up getting is a variation on that irritating kid in grammar school who thought he was hilarious and kept making the same jokes over and over. Not only is it unfunny and annoying, but it's also endlessly, mind-numbingly boring.
Yes, I said it. I find Deadpool boring.
I also have a problem with a chunk of Deadpool's fans. Ordinarily it wouldn't make a lot of sense to blame a character's writers for the actions of their fanbase, but I suspect with Deadpool there's a cycle in play that's self-sustaining, as the writers play specifically to this chunk of the fanbase. For one thing, in the cosplay community, Deadpool is way, WAY overdone. Anyone can cosplay whomever they choose, to be sure, but when you go to a convention and are met with literally dozens upon dozens of people doing the exact. same. thing. and each thinking they're ribald and hilarious, it's exasperating. Again - same principle - less is more. Forty-five men (and some women) all trying to photobomb pictures...not so funny. One person in a random costume running up to people, breaking out a silly dance routine, and then running away without explanation? That's usually pretty good.
This is not a Deadpool-exclusive problem, by the way....I'm finding the Joker & Harley Quinn trend guilty of much the same thing.
Cosplay is incidental, though. I find it honestly disturbing how much of Deadpool's most vocal fanbase overlaps with the gatekeeping, would-be-PUA, 'douchebro' comics community of entitled, Morlockesque males. You may know the type. I don't for a moment suggest that anyone who likes Deadpool is automatically of this category, but I do suggest that many...most, even....members of that category who espouse an interest in comics seem to love the Merc with the Mouth. That's not a category I particularly care to interact with, and they're far too common in the comics-loving community, giving the rest of us a bad name. They're usually safely ignored or disregarded, but right now, they're getting on my nerves more than usual, turning up the level of volume on the same old Deadpool humor, and extolling his virtues as a Bad-Ass to a degree that's really making me look forward to this movie coming - and then going - as soon as possible. I think a person's favorite comics character says a lot about them. When I hear 'Deadpool', that's often the cue for the 'uh-oh' button in my head to go off. (Though admittedly, not as much as when I hear 'Punisher').
Again, in moderation, Deadpool's just fine. If he's smartly written and used well, he can be really funny. He's a useful character to have around, to make meta-observations, and keep a medium which tends to self-obsess from getting too serious. He's got a dynamic design, and he's quite toyetic, and in the right hands, absolutely has his place. The image above is from the first Marvel Lego game, in which he plays a recurring role overseeing side missions...some of which is really funny, but does suffer from the same problem of overkill. I think a good comparison for Deadpool would be Johnny (Stephen Stucker) from Airplane....a goofy character who does bizarre things every so often, but doesn't take the focus of a given story, and thereby remains entertaining and funny. (I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere in Deadpool's history, there's a "And Leon's getting laaaaarger!" joke.)
All of this is why I will not be paying to see the film, nor reviewing it. Two hours of sustained Deadpoolishness is more than I really want to deal with. That's not to say I'm refusing to see it, or anything like that. I have no doubt I will see it eventually. It's part of the X-Men universe (Colossus appears in the film, albeit with a different actor), and I've enjoyed six of those seven films thus far. To be fair, I'm going to movie theaters less and less these days...there are only about half a dozen occasions a year I feel warrant spending eighteen dollars to sit in a crowded, noisy room on, when waiting three months allows Netflix to solve the problem for me.
If you happen to like Deadpool, more power to you, and I hope you enjoy the film. Ultimately, though, it's not my cup of tea. Never fear though - we've got Civil War, X-Men Apocalypse, Suicide Squad and Doctor Strange coming soon to a theater near you....oh, and I think there might be something coming out next month I might want to catch.
Until next time....
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