Deadpool & Wolverine cure superhero fatigue with $205 million opening

Marvel’s latest in a series of Hail Marys to reignite interest in its cinematic universe has paid off. Deadpool & Wolverine, the Marvel Studios crossover event based on Disney’s merger with 20th Century Fox, made $205 million at the domestic box office this weekend. The massive opening is the biggest of the summer (the second biggest, Despicable Me 4, made $75 million), the largest ever for an R-rated movie (beating the first two Deadpool movies handily), and the eighth-biggest opening in history. The movie made $438 million globally and pushed the MCU to a total box office gross of $30 billion, the first franchise to do so.

The movie arrived at a time of renewal for the MCU. In addition to Deadpool ushering in Disney’s “bad boys who say ‘fuck’” era, the studio announced the return of Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo at Comic-Con last night. The Gray Man directors, who will helm two new Avengers adventures that in no way feature a character named Kang, were treated to a crowd chanting “Russo. Russo. Russo.” presumably because Hall H loves Cherry so much. But Feige wasn’t done there. Marvel also brought Robert Downey Jr. back into the fold, not as Iron Man but as Dr. Victor von Doom, the famous villain, for the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. As in her ski trial, Gwyneth Paltrow had the only reasonable response to the news: “I don’t get it, are you a baddie now?”

Will anyone get it? That’s for the future to decide. Today, Marvel is out of its “It’s So Over” period and rebounds to a “We’re So Back” high where sequels and reboots run the box office. Behind Deadpool ([sigh] we’ll leave the pegging jokes to the Merc with the Mouth), Twisters, Despicable Me 4, and Inside Out 2 clung to their slice of the pie. The lone original idea, Longlegs, a reimagining of the David Fincher Cinematic Universe through the prism of T. Rex’s Electric Warrior, rounded out the top five, bringing the film’s three-week total to $58 million. Proving it has legs, Longlegs is now Neon’s biggest theatrical release ever.

In celebration of the movie making a lot of money, Reynolds and Jackman recreated that Wolverine meme where Logan looks at a picture. Combined with the Wolverine blowjob-ready popcorn vessel, which only has a light air of desperation as it chases Dune’s iconic fuck bucket, fans have been left powerless against the epic marketing prowess of movie star Ryan Reynolds. Frankly, considering he turned a Jim Carrey impression into the world’s most popular pansexual superhero, we’re not sure anyone is immune to his charms. Well, except maybe Gwyneth Paltrow.