When most of the trailers that premiered at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con leaked online, many of the studios behind them rushed out official versions right afterward. One of the most talked-about premieres of all, though, was the one shrouded in the most secrecy. Eager fans of ultraviolent superhero Deadpool could either stream a crappy bootleg version taken from somebody’s cellphone, or wait the announced few weeks until star Ryan Reynolds announced the official version would debut online. Following a brief tease yesterday, the Deadpool trailer is finally here, in all its dirty, self-aware glory.
“What if I told you we can make you better?” a scientist says to cancer-ridden Ryan Reynolds early in the trailer, echoing Robocop. These scientists turn Reynolds into a red-suited killing machine who not only feels no remorse, but appears to take joy in doing away with bad guys in bloody fashion. (There’s a scene in which Deadpool shoots a single bullet through three consecutive foreheads, and announces his masturbatory plans afterward.) Unlike a lot of other superhero movies that have been afflicted with self-serious disease, Deadpool is cartoonish despite a high body count.
It also looks suspiciously funny. In a nod to his much-loathed turn as The Green Lantern, Reynolds begs his scientists not to make his supersuit green or animated. Later, Silicon Valley’s TJ Miller shows up to tell the post-surgery denuded Deadpool, “You look like Freddy Kreuger face-fucked a topographical map of Utah.” If the creators of the movie are trying to distance themselves from the other superhero movies in the marketplace, they’re off to a compelling start.
Watch the full red-band trailer below.