The once-mighty MCU has fallen and it can’t get up.
Even non-Comic Con types know the Marvel Cinematic Universe no longer lords over Hollywood. Last year’s mega-flop, “The Marvels,” put an exclamation mark on that sorry state of affairs. The film made $206 million globally compared to the $1.1 billion the original earned four years prior.
Could Ryan Reynolds and his foul-mouthed alter ego, Deadpool, bring the MCU back from the cinematic grave? He might, assuming the powers that be follow the Reynolds Method, a heady blend of marketing ingenuity and old-fashioned charm.
Visual China Group via Getty Images
The next big MCU film drops this summer. Reynolds returns as the “Merc with a Mouth” in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” out July 26. The film unites the unlikely mutants in an R-rated romp that got Comic Con nation all hot and bothered.
The film’s trailer generated 365 million views in just one day, a record number significantly boosted by its Super Bowl exposure. It’s still a staggering sum, suggesting the core characters retain plenty of audience goodwill.
And rightly so.
Hugh Jackman, AKA Wolverine, is a talented star who rarely meddles in divisive matters. He’s an old-school actor who just wants to “put on a show,” and his eclectic film choices bear that out, down to his turn in 2017’s “The Greatest Showman.”
It’s still Reynolds’ franchise.
The “Deadpool & Wolverine” trailer’s gazillion views matter, but the film’s strength goes beyond that. Reynolds is the kind of apolitical, marketing savvy star that Disney desperately needs at this point in the MCU.
It’s about brand renewal as much as a stellar product.
Reynolds has mostly stayed above the political fray over the years. Yes, he did the “hostage-style” apology after learning the venue where he married actress Blake Lively had plantation ties from long ago.
The mea culpa came eight years after the ceremony and, more importantly, months after George Floyd’s death following an altercation with Minneapolis police.
The couple even bent the fiscal knee, donating $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to assuage their guilt.
Otherwise, the actor mostly stays above the partisan fray.
Reynolds shared an “I Voted” photograph on Election Day three-plus years ago but refused to say his presidential choice. He previously admitted to being “terrified” by the thought of a Trump presidency, but he didn’t make his views so obvious that they became part of his persona.
He’s the un-Robert De Niro.
Reynolds is endlessly funny on film, leaning hard into his wiseacre brand. That’s never been more true than with the Deadpool character. He’s taken it very seriously behind-the-scenes, constantly connecting with fans and taking a personal stake in the character.
The New York Times called him the “driving force” behind the franchise, and few dispute it. That spirit extends beyond the film set.
The Canadian native is a whiz with social media, leveraging his gargantuan flock — now 21.5 million strong on X, 51.3 million on Instagram.
That’s no accident.
Reynolds’ marketing mastery has coincided with his rise to superstardom. He helped turn Mint Mobile into a billion-dollar company.
He also took control, with fellow actor Rob McElhenney, of the Welsh football team Wrexham AFC and subsequently watched ticket sales and sponsorship opportunities soar.
Jan Kruger/Getty Images
Disney could learn a thing or two from the star. The Mouse House’s Rachel Zegler of “Snow White” infamy trashed her own franchise more than once last year. Disney ended up postponing the live action reboot’s debut a full year, possibly to do some behind-the-scenes tinkering to deal with the PR fallout.
That’s never an issue with Reynolds.
He’d rather poke fun at himself than the fans or the material that’s making him even richer.
Ironically, the “Deadpool” franchise wasn’t even under Disney’s thumb initially. The company’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox changed all that. And now he’s working for Mickey and chums. He even found some good-natured humor in that merger, mocking how some classic Disney films truly deserve an R rating like the “Deadpool” saga.
He wasn’t being woke, just silly.
Too many MCU stars either trash the franchise after the fact or lean, hard on its new woke ways. Actor Ray Winstone did the latter, saying his time shooting “Black Widow” was “soul destroying.”
Comedian-turned-actor Kumail Nanjiani whined that the bad reviews surrounding his MCU debut in “Eternals” chased him into therapy.
Reynolds would never say anything close to these complaints. He’s like Jackman, a star who wants audiences to see the sunny side of superhero shtick.
Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images
He’s getting paid handsomely to wear a silly costume, crack wise, and tell jokes his inner 15-year-old finds hilarious. And he refuses to settle for mediocrity. Think the team behind “Madame Web,” one of the worst superhero films of the last 20 years, had the same commitment to quality?
That’s exactly what the MCU needs. That, plus a hit to make the “superhero fatigue” talk fade, if at least for a while.
Follow Reynolds’ lead. Focus on the product. Reach out to the fans. Do it with a wink and a smile. And never let ‘em see you sweat.
He might be the MCU’s best chance at a new beginning.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
