Name a more chaotic antihero than Deadpool, we’ll wait. The fourth-wall-breaking, sarcastic character has found a permanent spot in the hearts of fans everywhere. On top of that, Ryan Reynolds’ portrayal is like the icing on the cake. He perfectly brought the character to life and we wonder whether his real-life persona had something to do with that. Chef’s kiss!
Now, while the Deadpool franchise and the DC Studios don’t have many connections to each other, some fans are blaming the movie for the downfall of DCEU. Why? Well, they believe that it caused the more serious superhero universe to take on a fun, humor-filled road. A road that led to its failure. Did the hugely positive reception of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool actually cause DCEU to stumble and fall?
Did Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool Affect the DCEU?
Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds, reinvented the superhero game with its R-rating, mature comedy, and extremely entertaining storyline. Deadpool’s entire box office run earned it a total of $782 million. When you compare it to Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Deadpool’s total is just about a hundred million dollars less than that of BvS’s $873 million. While on the surface, Snyder’s film might seem to be the clear winner, let’s not forget that it was made on a budget of $250 – 300 million whereas Deadpool was made on an extremely low budget of $58 million.
This led to Warner Bros putting on their thinking caps and switching things up for DC. After the super serious BvS was met with not-so-pleasant reviews, the company decided to take a page out of Deadpool’s book. And thus, The Suicide Squad, which was initially supposed to be more serious, was turned into a humor-filled film. Unfortunately, The Suicide Squad has a low rating on Rotten Tomatoes of just 26%. This might be why some fans believe that Deadpool’s success could have caused the fall of the DCEU. Check out what they have to say about this on Twitter:
The success of this movie caused detrimental damage to the DCEU and resulted in its eventual downfall
Deadpool killed the DC Extended Universe pic.twitter.com/UcopZ8w70A
— croc 🦦 (@Croc_Block) March 20, 2023
Deadpool didn’t do that, producers constantly trying to imitate amDeadpool did that.
— CleverMonster ✊🏿🇭🇹 (@CleverMonsterCT) March 21, 2023
WB's problem is once upon a time it was a trend setter in the Industry not they chase trends
— HoneyBear Hathaway (@PapaBearfresh) March 21, 2023
For context: DC panicked after the reception of BvS because people complained it was too dark and Suicide Squad was supposed to be a more serious movie but then Deadpool came out so they made it more closer to Deadpool and yeah
— John Cash (@2k18hoodmoments) March 20, 2023
They genuinely tried too hard to compete when they should’ve focused on building their own thing..
— Spade🍃 (@TheArtOfStaying) March 20, 2023
Do you think Deadpool had anything to do with the failures of the DCEU or does the blame fall solely on those in charge?
David Ayer Talks about The Suicide Squad
David Ayer, the director of the original Suicide Squad movie had a different vision for the film than what was released. He took to Twitter to state that after Batman v Superman saw horrible reviews and shocked the leadership at the studios, The Suicide Squad fell victim to it all. Why? Well, because Deadpool had performed exceptionally well in more ways than one by taking a more comedic route. However, not one size fits all and Deadpool’s formula did nothing for TSS. Ayer tweeted,
This trailer nailed the tone and intention of the film I made. Methodical. Layered. Complex, beautiful and sad. After the BVS reviews shell shocked the leadership at the time, and the success of Deadpool – My soulful drama was beaten into a “comedy” https://t.co/vrMw8QE2iZ
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) May 30, 2020
He also stated that the dark tone had to undergo reshoots to make it more light-hearted. Ayer added that the original cut of the film had exceptional acting from both Jared Leto and Margot Robbie before it all ended up biting the dust.
This was reshot because the tone was “too dark” – My first act was a normally constructed film. I took my inspiration from Nolan. There were real scenes with incredible acting between Jared and Margot. Joker was terrifying. Harley was complex. https://t.co/KeJHmI6EA7
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) May 30, 2020
It sure looks like Ayer is resentful of what happened to his film. While Deadpool cannot be directly blamed for the downfall, it’s safe to say that it certainly influenced a bit of it.
Deadpool is available to stream on Disney+.
Source: Twitter
