COMMENT: Like too many X-Men sequels, 'Deadpool 2' crams in too many characters
Ask ten different X-Men fans who their favourite character is, and you’ll get ten different answers. That’s the beauty of the X-Men franchise— since it relies on an ensemble cast, no single character can claim to be the face of the entire team. This means that even popular characters like Wolverine can die, as he did in Logan (and also in the comics; but then, he came back to life in the comics).
But this means that sequels and subsequent instalments of X-Men film franchises almost always suffer from the same mistake. Too many characters are shoved in (possibly to appeal to as many fans as possible) without proper development, good reason, or memorable moments.
Deadpool was a film that surprisingly, lived up to its hype. It chose its characters sparingly, giving each of them time to shine and prove their worth. We got to know each of the flawed protagonists a little better, thanks to the screentime they each got. Characters were valued and utilised well. Even the titular character himself, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), was developed well beyond what you would have expected from such an anti-hero.
Deadpool 2 takes the opposite approach to characters — some are dumped in for jokes, even the slightest semblance of backstory is omitted for most of them, and then the finale attempts to shoehorn all these myriad, conflicting, shallow characters together as a “family”.
The sequel has higher stakes and a broader scope than its predecessor, but that is a result of the story rather than an escalating number of characters.
Voiceovers or grand speeches stating that characters have strong bonds doesn’t automatically create strong bonds. Actual relationships and interactions between characters do. The problem is that only a few characters are actually that important. However, they’re all introduced in the same way, and unless you’re a fan of the comics, you’re going to be struggling to remember each of their names and powers. And this struggle will ultimately prove to be for nothing.
Even the returning characters for Deadpool 2 were not all that well-developed. The film ends with you knowing as much as you did about Weasel (T.J. Miller), Colossus (Stefan Kapičić), and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) as you did at the end of Deadpool.
It may have been fun to see more esoteric characters from X-Force (the team that Deadpool assembles in the film), but ultimately, the large cast was more of a disservice than fan service to the movie.
Here’s hoping that the upcoming X-Men film, Dark Phoenix, doesn’t repeat this mistake too.
Marcus Goh is a television scriptwriter, having written for popular shows like “Lion Mums”, “Crimewatch”, “Incredible Tales”, and “Police & Thief”. He’s also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find him on social media as Optimarcus and on his site. The views expressed are his own.
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