Warning: Fairly massive spoilers for Deadpool 2 are in this post! Be forewarned.
If you're reading this, hopefully you've basked in the glory that is Deadpool 2. The antihero's second go-round is certainly jam-packed with hilarious jokes, a whole flood of wild cameos (including one from Brad Pitt himself), and a pretty stellar soundtrack to boot. But we have a bone to pick with the latest R-rated superhero film, and it has everything to do with that postcredits scene. Turns out, it's actually a pretty big deal.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let's all go through a light recap together. Basically, Josh Brolin's Cable saves the day by using the remaining juice in his time-traveling gadget to save Deadpool. Now, he's stuck in the past. Which, like, OK. Sure. By the time the credits roll, Deadpool has handed the device off to Negasonic Teenage Warhead and her girlfriend, Yukio. I guess the duo are super smart, because they get the futuristic gizmo working again and Deadpool embarks on a journey to "correct" the f*cked-up timelines in the Deadpool universe.
He prevents his girlfriend Vanessa's death, saves poor Peter from his imminent acid-vomit death, kills the version of Wade that appears in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and even prevents Ryan Reynolds from making Green Lantern. So meta, dude. But hey, wait a second. If Deadpool prevents Vanessa's death, that would mean he has no reason to kill himself. Which would mean he does not end up at the mutant academy and does not stumble into this whole plot to save the hot-headed (and hot-handed) Firefist from becoming an evil villain. Basically, the whole rug has been pulled out from under us. Deadpool 2 simply didn't happen.
Before you start to protest and say things may still have panned out the same way, I'm going to stop you. According to Cinema Blend, the creative forces behind Deadpool 2 admitted that the postcredits scenes eradicate the film. Screenwriter and producer Rhett Reese said, "So, we invalidated the whole movie job. Great job! We're telling everybody, 'You didn't even need to be here for two hours, because everything is solved!' But yeah, we do at least want to leave the possibility open for Vanessa and Peter."
Paul Wernick, who also wrote and produced, added to the shrug emoji that is Reese's answer. "It was one of those things where we all looked at it, and go, 'Yeah, I mean on a purely tactical screenwriting basis, it's probably not the wisest thing to do,'" he said. "But it was just too funny and so much fun that I think the audience will forgive us for doing it, because time travel in general is kind of a funky thing. And so we just took our license with it and made it Deadpool."
Call me crazy but I . . . don't think this is the kind of thing you just shrug and laugh about? Look, I'm glad Vanessa is alive again, because I didn't want her to die in the first place. But to end the movie by saying none of the movie matters is a bit of a head-scratcher to me. If they wanted to conclude the movie by undoing all of it, isn't that a sign that they just should have written a different movie? One that, you know, ended the way they wanted it to end?
Whether you agree with me or the filmmakers, one set of facts remains in the Deadpool universe (and, according to the writer-producers, the universe of the entire X-Men franchise): Vanessa is alive, Deadpool 2 is inconsequential, Wade never battled it out with Wolverine, Peter is chilling (silver lining, I guess?), and Green Lantern never got to see the light of day. Maybe they can just go ahead and greenlight Deadpool 3; it'll be the Deadpool 2 that Deadpool 2 was always meant to be . . . if it had ever existed in the first place.
