Within the first 30 seconds of the full-length Deadpool 2 trailer, our hero, the Merc with a Mouth, yells at Victor to start “the f*cking car.” There’s also a “sh*t my pants” joke and one schmuck gets his head sliced off by a sword. It is, needless to say (we’re still going to say it), not appropriate for anyone under 17 years old, according to the Motion Picture Association of America, or anyone not between the ages of 12-55, according to common sense.
But 20th Century Fox still went ahead with a “clean” Deadpool 2 trailer.
It begins with a recap of the original film, which made nearly $800 million at the box office by breaking into the untapped chimichanga market, with a focus on Wade Wilson’s relationship with Vanessa. There’s less violence, less swearing, and fewer sexual innuendos (although the “it’s a face I’d be happy to sit on” line curiously made the cut), and that continues with the “safe” Deadpool 2 footage. Cable’s entrance is still there, Professor X’s spinning wheelchair is still there, and the X-Force’s debut is still there. The only real difference? A revised joke.
In the “dirty” trailer, Deadpool says, “And that is why Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is pure pornography” (an in-joke to actor Ryan Reynolds’ relationship with Blake Lively). In the “clean” trailer, the line is tweaked to, “And that is why the man bun is just a millennial mullet.” That joke is going to play great on airplanes.