Deadpool 2

Deadpool 2 is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. It is the sequel to Deadpool (2016) and the eleventh installment in the X-Men film series. The film was directed by David Leitch and written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Ryan Reynolds, who stars in the title role alongside Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, and Jack Kesy. In the film, Deadpool forms the X-Force to protect a young mutant from the time-traveling soldier Cable.

Plans for a sequel to Deadpool began before the original film's release, and were confirmed in February 2016. Though the original creative team of Reynolds, Reese, Wernick, and director Tim Miller were set to return for the second film, Miller left the project in October 2016 due to creative differences with Reynolds and was soon replaced by Leitch. An extensive casting search took place to fill the role of Cable, with Brolin ultimately cast. Principal photography took place in British Columbia from June to October 2017.

Deadpool 2 premiered at the Empire Leicester Square in London on May 10, 2018, and was released in the United States on May 18, by 20th Century Fox. The film outgrossed its predecessor, earning $785.9 million worldwide against a $110 million production budget, becoming the ninth highest-grossing film of 2018, the highest-grossing film in the X-Men series, and the highest-grossing R-rated film at the time of its release. The film received positive reviews from critics, with some considering it superior to the first film and praising its humor, cast performances, story, and action sequences, while others criticized its tone, script, and recycled jokes. A PG-13-rated version of the film, titled Once Upon a Deadpool, was released on December 12, 2018, to mixed reviews. Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, Deadpool's film rights were returned to Marvel Studios. A sequel, Deadpool & Wolverine, starring Reynolds and Hugh Jackman and integrating their characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), was released on July 26, 2024, as part of Phase Five of the MCU.

Plot

After fighting organized crime as Deadpool for two years, Wade Wilson fails to kill one of his targets on his anniversary with his girlfriend, Vanessa. That night, after the pair decides to start a family together, the target tracks Wade down and inadvertently kills Vanessa; Wade then kills him in revenge. Six weeks later, Wade is still wallowing in self-hatred. He visits Blind Al, where she unsuccessfully attempts to convince him to move on with his life. After a series of suicide attempts, Wade has a vision of Vanessa in the afterlife but remains alive due to his healing abilities. Wade is left with only a Skee-Ball token as an anniversary gift, as final mementos of Vanessa.

Colossus recovers Wade's body and takes him to the X-Mansion to recruit him. Wade reluctantly agrees to join the X-Men because he believes Vanessa would have wanted him to. He, Colossus, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead respond to a standoff between authorities and the unstable young mutant Russell Collins at an orphanage owned by the Essex Corporation, labeled a "Mutant Re-education Center". Realizing that Russell has been abused by the orphanage staff, Wade kills one of the staff members before being restrained by Colossus, and both Wade and Russell are arrested. Fitted with power-suppressing collars, they are taken to the Ice Box, an isolated prison for mutant criminals. Meanwhile, Cable, a cybernetically enhanced soldier from the future, travels back in time to kill Russell.

Cable storms the Ice Box and attacks Russell. Wade, whose collar breaks in the ensuing melee, attempts to protect Russell. After Cable takes Vanessa's token, Wade forces himself and Cable out of the prison, but not before Russell overhears Wade denying that he cares for the lad. Near death again, Wade has another vision of Vanessa in which she convinces him to help Russell.

Deadpool organizes a team he calls X-Force to free Russell from a prison transfer convoy and protect him from Cable. The team launches its assault on the convoy by parachute, but all members die during the landing except for Wade and Domino, whose main superpower she claims to be pure luck. While a fight with Cable distracts them, Russell frees fellow inmate Juggernaut, who agrees to help him kill the abusive orphanage headmaster. Juggernaut destroys the convoy, rips Wade in half, and escapes alongside Russell.

While Wade recovers, Cable offers to work with him and Domino to stop Russell from killing the headmaster. Cable explains that in his timeline, after Russell kills the headmaster, he becomes a serial killer who killed Cable's wife and daughter. Wade accepts Cable's offer, on the condition that Cable gives him a chance to change Russell's mind. At the orphanage, however, Deadpool and team are overpowered by Juggernaut, while Russell pursues the headmaster. Colossus, having initially refused to help out, due to Wade's murderous ways, arrives to distract Juggernaut. Wade fails to placate Russell, forcing Cable to shoot at the boy. Wade leaps in front of the bullet while wearing the Ice Box collar and dies, reuniting with Vanessa in the afterlife. His sacrifice dissuades Russell from killing the headmaster and, consequently, saves Cable's family. Cable uses his last charge, reserved for his return trip to his family, to warp back several minutes, strapping Vanessa's token in front of Wade's heart so he survives the bullet. Cable then decides to stay in the present for a while to help improve the world, knowing that his family will be safe in the future. Afterward, the headmaster is run over and killed by Wade's taxi driver friend Dopinder.

Later, Negasonic and her girlfriend Yukio repair Cable's time-traveling device for Wade. He uses it to save the lives of Vanessa and X-Force member Peter, as well as to kill both an alternate version of himself confronting Wolverine, and Ryan Reynolds after he finishes reading the screenplay for Green Lantern.