Check out this brand new Christmas-themed poster for Once Upon A Deadpool. After the monstrous success of Deadpool in 2016 that blew away the expectations of many, it was only natural that a sequel would follow. Introducing the likes of Cable, Domino and Peter, Deadpool 2 may not have enjoyed that same rapturous reception as its predecessor but was still a commercial and critical success nonetheless and featured all the gross-out humor, bloody fight scenes and wanton swearing that made the first film such a refreshing take on the superhero genre.
Some eyebrows were certainly raised then, when it was announced back in September that a PG-13 cut of Deadpool 2 was set for release under the title Once Upon A Deadpool. The new cut tells essentially the same story as the original but replaces the more adult-themed scenes with around 20 minutes of brand new footage. Once Upon A Deadpool also uses a framing device first pitched to Ryan Reynolds on Twitter that sees Wade Wilson recounting the film to a fully grown Fred Savage in the style of The Princess Bride.
Related: Screen Rant's Once Upon A Deadpool Review
A brand new poster has now been released for Once Upon A Deadpool via the movie's official Twitter account and the focus is placed squarely on the Yuletide season and Deadpool's aspiring moral compass, Colossus. The accompanying Tweet states that Colossus "insisted" this poster be released and "what big guy wants, big guy gets" and, naturally, all the text is in the X-Men character's native Russian. The poster itself features cartoon versions of all the movie's main players, along with Deadpool gleefully plugging in some Christmas lights.
While the image of Cable covered in Christmas lights alongside a glowing fairy tale book will never not be odd, the poster does a good job of getting across the trademark humor of the Deadpool franchise, and simultaneously hinting at the new cut's more family-friendly direction. The cartoon drawings of each character are also brilliantly rendered, and the poster perfectly captures both Colossus' weary expression and Cable's intimidating glare.
Somewhat predictably, Once Upon A Deadpool hasn't been received as positively as the original cut. The general consensus in reviews seems to indicate that the release is a decent re-telling of the movie but comes with an overriding feeling that something is definitely missing from the mix. It could be argued that Once Upon A Deadpool is a wholesome Christmas treat for those too young to have seen Deadpool 2 but, as previously reported, the new cut actually received exactly the same rating as the original in some locations.
More: Once Upon A Deadpool's New Post-Credits Scenes Explained
Once Upon A Deadpool is showing now is selected theaters.
Source: Deadpool Movie (via Twitter)