Deadpool: The 5 Funniest Moments In The First Movie (And 5 In The Second)

Just when it seemed like Hollywood would never allow a faithful, fourth wall-breaking, R-rated Deadpool movie to get made, Ryan Reynolds got one into production. Reynolds had to persevere with the project for 12 years, working closely with writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, to make sure it was the movie that Deadpool fans wanted.

It broke all kinds of box office records upon a release, so a sequel was in order, and Deadpool 2 managed to subvert audiences’ expectations even more than the original. So, here are The 5 Funniest Moments In The First Deadpool Movie (And 5 In The Second).

10 First Movie: The Opening Titles

The opening titles of Deadpool quickly establish the movie’s self-awareness with jokey credits like, “Starring God’s Perfect Idiot,” and “Directed By An Overpaid Tool.” Apparently, these titles were used as placeholders and weren’t supposed to make it to the final cut, but were so funny that they remained.

The slow-motion ultraviolent action is juxtaposed brilliantly with the soft, uplifting sounds of Juice Newton’s “Angel of the Morning.” This gag was repeated in the sequel, but to a lesser effect as the jokes all focused on the “fridging” of Vanessa that took place in the opening scene.

9 Second Movie: The Audition Process

When Deadpool decides to assemble his own superhero team with the gender-neutral name X-Force, he and Weasel hold an open casting call and let the local superhumans come to them. It’s a hysterical montage, with every character who walks in being used for a gag.

For example, when the Vanisher comes in, they’re not sure if he’s even there: “He’s not here, is he?” “He may be running late.” This joke is paid off later when the Vanisher’s electrocution reveals, in a very brief cameo, that he’s played by Brad Pitt.

8 First Movie: Captain Deadpool

After escaping from the Weapon X laboratory with disfigured skin and activated mutant genes, Wade Wilson joins his friend, Weasel, and they talk about his options. Before too long, they decide that he should use his new abilities to become a superhero.

Wade looks up at the “dead pool” hanging above the bar in Sister Margaret’s and comes up with the perfect name: Captain Deadpool. Weasel isn’t enthused, so he decides to just go by Deadpool.

7 Second Movie: Domino Proves Luck Is A Superpower

From the moment that Domino walked into Deadpool’s base of operations to apply for a spot on the X-Force, he insisted that luck isn’t a superpower. However, when she runs through the streets and gets behind the wheel of the prison convoy, she allows fate to guide her, and it works out just fine.

Even as the truck flies off a bridge and she heads for certain doom, Domino manages to emerge unscathed, thanks to a conveniently-placed balloon. In this scene, she proves once and for all that luck is indeed a superpower.

6 First Movie: “Don’t Make The Super-Suit Green…Or Animated!”

Throughout the two Deadpool movies, Ryan Reynolds has included as many shots at his previous comic book movie – 2011’s Green Lantern – as possible.

In the first movie, as Wade Wilson signs up for the Weapon X program and Ajax explains that he’s going to turn him into a superhero and he’s wheeled away to start the experiments, Wade cracks, “Please don’t make the super-suit green…or animated!” This is a reference to the super-suit he wore in Green Lantern, which was bright green and created using CGI effects.

5 Second Movie: Killing Ryan Reynolds Before He Makes Green Lantern

The mid-credits sequence in Deadpool 2, in which the Merc with a Mouth gets a hold of a functioning time machine, is filled with great gags. ‘Pool goes back in time to save Vanessa and Peter’s lives.

Then, he travels back to his appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, when his mouth was sewn shut and he wasn’t really Deadpool, to kill his former self. And then, he goes back to Ryan Reynolds’ office on the day he received the script for Green Lantern to shoot the actor in the head before he stars in it.

4 First Movie: Superhero Landing

When Gina Carano’s Angel Dust appears on the battlefield at the end of the first Deadpool movie, she’s standing on a crashed Helicarrier. ‘Pool notices that she has to drop down to the ground to confront him and starts getting excited to see a “superhero landing.”

Lo and behold, she lands on one knee with a fist to the ground, just like Iron Man or Batman or any other superhero, and ‘Pool rightly points out how impractical those kinds of landings are.

3 Second Movie: Baby Legs

In Deadpool 2’s end-of-the-second-act set piece, the Merc with a Mouth gets to meet one of his all-time favorite X-Men: the Juggernaut. However, the meeting doesn’t last very long, as the Juggernaut picks up Deadpool and rips him in half, right down the middle.

When Cable goes to visit ‘Pool at Blind Al’s place to offer a truce, his legs have only grown back to the size of an infant, while his torso remains adult-sized. The pinnacle of this gag is the Basic Instinct crossing-the-legs spoof.

2 First Movie: Sexiest Man Alive

At the end of the first Deadpool movie, Wade is reluctant to show his now-deformed face to Vanessa. When he removes his red mask, he reveals that he’s wearing another mask underneath. He’s stapled a cut-out of Hugh Jackman’s face – taken from People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” shoot – to his own face.

To Jackman’s credit, he’s always had a great sense of humor about himself, and he’s always been supportive of the Deadpool movies making fun of both his portrayal of Wolverine and the actor himself.

1 Second Movie: The Whole X-Force Dies Immediately

In order to feel as fresh and subversive as the first movie, Deadpool 2 needed to really push the boat out. And it succeeded admirably with this incredible gag that the producers somehow got the studio to go along with.

After assembling the X-Force – a superhero team filled with relatively high-profile comic book properties played by pretty big stars, like Terry Crews and Bill Skarsgård, who ‘Pool announces as the stars of a new franchise – the team takes to the skies for an unnecessarily elaborate operation that gets them all killed in seconds. The only survivors are Deadpool himself and Domino.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3458 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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