The coolest thing about the design of Deadpool is the way his eyes are fully expressive and constantly changing. It's got to be a make-up effect, right? Like the mask is an actual appliance on the eyes that blends into the costume somehow?
Or am I wrong? Is it a computer effect added after the fact? That seems like the expensive and annoying option to me, and it removes Reynolds from the equation, which seems like part of the problem he already faced on “Green Lantern.” Based on that joke he makes as they're wheeling him in to throw some Weapon X hoodoo on him, I'd say he's well aware of all the things he'd like to not do this time around.
This is not the exact same thing that they showed at Comic-Con, but it's close enough. They cut a funny bit introducing Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), and they toned back one shot of ultra-violence, but it's basically the same footage cut slightly tighter. And if you only ever saw the pirated version of the Comic-Con stuff, then this is most likely the first time you can see the smoke effect at the end, which is a pretty spectacular and subtle gag.
I'm not shocked to see comic book fans getting excited about this one, but I do think it's a matter of the easiest possible button being pushed. There's a feeling with many comic fans that things should play rougher, that there is a dearth of R-rated comic book movies, and this trailer is designed specifically to showcase just how R-rated this is. My kids see a lot of comic book movies, and the one they are most fixated on right now is “Deadpool,” and that's without seeing this new trailer. They want to see it precisely because they've been told that it's not appropriate for them, and part of the reason people are going berserk all over my Twitter timeline is because you've got a Marvel logo on a trailer where the hero shoots people in the head in slow-motion graphic detail while dropping a spirited “motherfucker” or three or five. It's certainly not the only time we've seen Marvel push things to an extreme. The “Blade” films and, especially, “Punisher: War Zone” have been pretty wild rides, but none of those were allowed to play in the mainstream Marvel universe the way this will.
I think it's sort of hilarious how many Fox movies hinge on someone getting put through the Weapon X program, and I can only imagine there will be more in the future. It's the all-purpose magic button that transforms anyone into an indestructible killing machine. Whatever gets it done. Fine. The point here isn't about the mechanic that transforms Wade Wilson into Deadpool. It's more about the emotional ride and whether or not they can balance that with a totally lunatic sense of humor, and that seems to be what they're promising here.
It's a very funny trailer. Definitely. I just hope the film's got more in its bag of tricks than f bombs and hyper-gore. Still, it's positively bizarre seeing Colossus show up in the midst of all of this, and I do think it's exciting to see Fox try something that is so clearly not for all audiences. For this particular character and this particular fanbase, it seems like a must.
We'll find out if they pull it off on February 12, 2016.