Has Deadpool started the comicalypse? Does he herald the end of comic book movies? Will Deadpool kill the comic book universe?!

WARNING: SPOILER QUOTES AHEAD

Over the last few days I’ve been reading a ton of articles that have pointed to the success that Deadpool has generated over the few weeks that it has been at the box offices. It’s broken records, broken perceptions about comic book characters, but has it started the collapse of comic franchises? It may just have.

Let’s take a look at why Deadpool worked as a film. Deadpool probably is one of the most accurately adapted anti-heroes in the Marvel-Fox Universe (it’s all very technical). We owe this to Fox not shying away from terrifying R-rating (How will we sell the toys?!) and selling us the foul-mouthed psychopath Wade Wilson in all his glory. The film’s great success has suddenly spurned talk of other R-rated comics coming to life. Deadpool’s real success lays in the fact that it was fresh. It broke the mould and parody of itself and every other comic book adaptation (McAvoy or Stewart?! These timelines are very confusing).

The Marvel Cinematic Universe(MCU) IS becoming saturated! Don’t fight me on this one. Marvel is hitting a point where the films will no longer have the same impact that they had in phase 1 and 2. They’re all too formulaic and the films are hitting their marginal utility. Wait…what are they hitting?! In Economics, marginal utility is the benefit or loss the consumer gains for a service or good. Unfortunately, Marvel film will remain formulaic and retain their style leading which could result in a loss of audience. Deadpool is a reminder that we can’t hang onto that same formula forever. They’ll have to break their one rule (They won’t because money…for now).

DC is the wildcard in the whole situation. Off to a relatively rocky start with Man of Steel (I haven’t included the Dark Knight Trilogy because perfect), DC can truly set itself apart. They’ve taken the right approach by setting up Suicide Squad quite early on in their upcoming schedule. Who doesn’t want to see villains beating the ever living fuck out of one another?! It’s exciting! It’s different! And hopefully, it will be great too…hopefully. It’s vital that they establish their own winning cinematic formula or else they could be doomed before the real cinematic showdown begins.

Comic Film Adaptation fatigue is real. I feel it. These films are slowly losing their appeal because of the sheer number of films that are being released. There five more adaptation due for release this year alone. FIVE MORE! Honestly, it’s too many to handle and Deadpool has set the bar so excruciatingly high that everything may come off as being extremely mediocre (The hype train is real). Look, I’m excited to see Civil War but I’m worried that it will be underwhelming given the scope and scale of the source material. The same goes for Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. I’m not saying that these will be bad films but they could be overhyped and underwhelming. Deadpool could just have killed the Marvel (Cinematic) Universe.

Your friendly neighbourhood NomadShad!