Normally, in a film series that has two installments, the first film tends to be better than the sequel or vice versa. However, there are few exceptions, most notably Deadpool and Deadpool 2. The two films, which are part of the X-Men franchise, were both well received.
The R-rated movies revolve around the Marvel antihero Wade Wilson/Deadpool who eliminates threats to him and to the globe and makes sure to be funny while at it. But which of the two films is really better than the other? Let's examine them both.
Deadpool: Superior Plot
Deadpool was in development hell for many years and this might have just been a blessing in disguise for the screenwriters. Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were hired to work the script way back in 2010. The movie came out in 2016, so they had plenty of time to refine the story.
Compared to its sequel, Deadpool has a more intriguing story. Wade Wilson struggles to come to terms with the changes in his body while also fighting to be with the woman he loves. Deadpool 2 aimed to pack in more subplots and as a result, the script felt a bit muddled and less-grounded.
Deadpool 2: The Mid-Credits Scene
Has there ever been a better mid-credits scene than the one in Deadpool 2? In the film, Cable's time travel machine can only be used twice. However, at the end of the movie Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio, fix it and give it the ability to be used a couple of times. Deadpool thus takes advantage of it.
In the mid-credits scene, he time-travels back to the moment before his girlfriend, Vanessa was murdered and saves her. He then time travels again and saves Peter from being melting to death. The best moment comes when he time-travels to X-Men Origins: Wolverine and shoots the highly-criticized version of Deadpool that was portrayed in that film as Wolverine looks on. He then goes back to 2008 and murders Ryan Reynolds to prevent him from taking the forgettable role of Green Lantern.
Deadpool: One-Liners
The first film was packed with plenty of jokes, witty comments, and references to pop culture. About his suit, Wade Wilson insists "Just don't make it green... or animated." This is a direct jab at the poorly-received Green Lantern character that Ryan Renolds played. (Lantern's suit was a CGI-heavy animated one.) And in reference to how often Liam Neeson's daughter gets kidnapped in the Taken movies, Wade Wilson says: "At some point, you have to wonder if he's just a bad parent."
Thanks to great writing, the one-liners just keep coming in the first movie.
Deadpool 2: No Budgetary Constraints
Deadpool performed exceptionally well at the box office but there were several moments that had "Low Budget" written all over them. Vancouver was the only major location used for filming and you could tell that director Tim Miller was trying to squeeze the most juice out of Reynold's character and every tiny location.
In comparison, Deadpool 2's budget ($110 million) was double that of the first film. Big names such as John Wick director David Leitch and actor Josh Brolin were brought on board. Overall, the film felt a bit rich with more action sequences, better CGI and more locations.
Deadpool: The Opening Titles
The moment the opening credits appeared, it was clear that Deadpool was going to be one hell of a hilarious film. Kicking off the franchise's formula of making fun of itself, we see titles such as “Starring God’s Perfect Idiot” and "Written By The Real Heroes Here".
Interestingly, these titles were only meant to be placeholders. They weren't supposed to be included in the final cut but the production team felt they were really hilarious so they weren't discarded. Even though the sequel used similar titles, they just didn't feel as when they appeared in the first film.
Deadpool 2: Plenty Of Fun Cameos
In Deadpool 2, there are a couple of open cameos as well as a couple of "blink and you'll miss it" cameos. The most notable cameo comes from Brad Pitt. Apparently, Pitt was the first choice to play Cable, but a scheduling conflict made his involvement better.
Pitt has a 5-second cameo as the invisible superhero Vanisher, whose image only appears when he gets electrocuted by power lines. Matt Damon also appears briefly, portraying a redneck. We also got Terry Crews who was lucky to have just a little more screentime as Bedlam, a member of the X-force.
Deadpool: The Score
Dutch composer Tom Holkenberg a.k.a. Junkie XL—who has also worked on movies like Mad Max: Fury Road—was responsible for Deadpool's score. His magic is particularly evident during the highway shootout scene where his "Twelve Bullets" composition embraces the madness that's going on.
Junkie XL explained that the film's soundtracks were meant to pay homage to previous X-Men movies. Homage or not, they do sound much better. Deadpool 2's score was made by Tyler Bates who is good but topping what Junkie did was going to be a tough task.
Deadpool 2: It's More Like The Comics
Wade Wilson was still trying to get used to the strange man he had turned into in the first Deadpool film. But in the sequel, he has accepted who he is and he having a lot of fun just being Deadpool. He goes on to embrace all the characteristics that have been portrayed in the comics including the endless satire and penchant for violence.
Just like in the comic issues penned by Christopher Priest, the character frequently alternates between being silly and being smart. He already lost the love of his life so the only thing that keeps him going now is fighting bad guys. Everything else is considered a joke as far as he's concerned.
Deadpool: Better Numbers
Deadpool's critical and commercial success outweighed that of its sequel. According to Box Office Mojo, Deadpool had a worldwide gross of $782,612,155 compared to Deadpool 2's $734,546,611. On Rotten Tomatoes, Deadpool has a score of 85% while Deadpool 2 has a score of 83%. On IMDb, Deadpool has an 8.0 rating while Deadpool 2 has a 7.8 rating.
Moving to accolades, Deadpool had 63 nominations in different categories across different award organizations. Deadpool 2 had 49 nominations. Going with the numbers, we have a clear winner. The first film performed better in all metrics
Deadpool 2: Surreal Moments
In any other film, these moments would look silly but in Deadpool 2, they were part of the things that made the movie a highly-entertaining ride. Picture the scene where Deadpool's body gets ripped in half. Since he's a mutant whose body parts can regenerate like a lizard's tail, he starts growing a pair of baby legs.
There were also the bizarre deaths of X-force members. Shatterstar gets killed by flying into a chopper's blades, Vanisher gets electrocuted by powerlines while Zeitgeist gets sucked right into a woodchipper. And who can forget Bedlam crashing into that truck?