Anyone who tried to claim that a certain character from the Marvel universe is the most popular would be mistaken. The popularity of characters varies greatly over time, making it extremely difficult to say who is the most popular. Even if it wouldn’t be hard to point in the direction of our beloved neighbor and friend Spider-Man. But aside from good old Peter Parker, if we wanted to talk about which superhero has consistently been the most popular in Marvel comics, we would have to mention two: one is Captain America, the other is Wolverine.
It is easy to understand the popularity of Wolverine. He is violent, sarcastic, has a dark and sad past, and at the same time, he is a sensitive man who cares about those around him, never shying away from his responsibilities. Moreover, he is a cowboy, he is a samurai, he fights in the Spanish Civil War; he does whatever you need. Including, for some reason, being friends with Deadpool.
Because let’s be honest: Deadpool is not the first superhero that any Marvel fan thinks of. Not the second. Not the fifth. But he has always been a popular hero who has worked well both inside and outside the comic fandom due to his irreverent attitude and his constant breaking of the fourth wall. Sometimes it works better or worse, but his formula never seems to run out. Something that his latest movie has proven, which is now available on streaming platforms and you shouldn’t miss. Or seeing its success, you should take this opportunity to watch it again.
Deadpool, a resounding success story
The story of the Deadpool movies is a peculiar one. Although the MCU was already in operation when it was proposed, the first Deadpool movie was released in 2016 directed by Tim Miller without any involvement from Marvel. How is that possible? Because years earlier, Marvel sold the rights to the X-Men to 20th Century Fox, allowing them, among other things, to make Deadpool movies.
Against all odds, the movie was a resounding success. With a relatively modest budget of 58 million dollars, it grossed 782.6 million dollars just at the box office. This made it the ninth highest-grossing movie of the year, the highest-grossing X-Men movie, and the highest-grossing R-rated movie to date, a tremendous success that Ryan Reynolds or Fox had not seen in many years and one of the most successful movies of the year in terms of profit-to-investment ratio. This led to the sequel being immediately approved.
Deadpool 2 was released in 2018 and was directed by David Leitch, co-director of John Wick. With a budget of 110 million dollars, it grossed almost the same as its predecessor: 785.9 million dollars. Something that made it once again the ninth highest-grossing film of the year, the highest-grossing X-Men film, and the highest-grossing film for adults over 18 years old to date. This led Disney to finally decide that it was time for the mutants to come home.
Deadpool and Wolverine: it didn’t even need to be thought about
Deadpool & Wolverine is directed by Shawn Levy, director of Night at the Museum and Free Guy, who directed this third installment released in 2024 where, for the first time, it was integrated into the MCU. Specifically, in its fifth phase. Something made possible by Disney’s acquisition of Fox in March 2019, allowing them to use the X-Men on screen for the first time. This was taken advantage of to integrate Wolverine on screen.
If Deadpool was popular, Wolverine was even more so. And that had to be noticeable. And it better be. Now they were part of the MCU, which meant the movie’s budget skyrocketed to 200 million dollars, not counting the promotional budget. And did it work? The movie grossed 1.338 billion dollars. Practically the same as the previous two movies combined. Something that showed Disney that people were eager for more X-Men on screen. Even after the absolute disaster that their last adaptations were.
Even the critics were quite positive about the movie. Where most recent MCU films have been received with little enthusiasm, Deadpool & Wolverine was received with relative enthusiasm. With a 78 on Rotten Tomatoes and a 56 on Metacritic, the overall perspective is that it is a fun and irreverent movie that fulfills its purpose, even if it lacks the freshness of the earlier ones.
Now, whether you’ve seen it or want to see it for the first time, you can watch it too thanks to its arrival on streaming for the first time, specifically on Disney+. And this way you can find out if Deadpool is really that funny and has such good chemistry with Wolverine or if the whole mutant thing in the MCU is actually a bit overrated.
