Mocking The MCU
As the X-Men universe’s rival superhero franchise, Deadpool 2 can’t resist poking fun at the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with many of the Avengers getting a namedrop or allusion at some point in the movie.
The first one comes when Wade’s locked up in the Ice Box with Russell and explains that he can’t get them out of there with the mutant power-suppressing collar around his neck. “I’m basically Hawkeye without the bow and arrow,” he quips, referencing the old joke that Jeremy Renner’s archer is the weakest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
He later assigns his friends two other Avenger nicknames. Dopinder’s called “Brown Panther” after he tries to be a superhero while Domino’s dubbed “Black Black Widow.”
When Cable arrives, Deadpool notices Josh Brolin’s cyborg limb and calls it a “Winter Soldier arm,” a nod to the similar artificial metal arm sported by Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes from Captain America: The Winter Soldier onwards. Speaking of Cable, you might have expected the Merc to have referenced Brolin’s famous MCU role in this film – and you’d be right. During their hunt for Russell at the orphanage, Deadpool tells Cable “zip it, Thanos” during an argument.
There’s another slightly subtler one that you might have missed, as well. When trying to subdue Juggernaut, Deadpool attempts to soothe him by saying “OK, big guy, the sun’s getting real low.” This is, of course, what Black Widow said to calm Hulk down in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It was previously mocked in the MCU itself, too, in Thor: Ragnarok.
Digging Into DC
Just to prove he’s not biased, Deadpool 2 also isn’t afraid to make fun of the DC Extended Universe as well, with many jokes at the expense of the Marvel universe’s gritty comic book cousin being filtered throughout.
The earliest one occurs when Wade’s trying to come up with a good excuse for arriving home late on his and Vanessa’s anniversary. One such excuse sees him claim that he was fighting “a caped badass” but it turned out OK in the end as “his mom was named Martha, too.” You don’t need us to tell you this is a nod to the infamous “Martha” moment from Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Deadpool later namechecks the Dark Knight explicitly when Cable screams in his face and asks him “Who are you?” Wade replies “I’m Batman” in his best Christian Bale impression. Superman himself then gets a mention when Deadpool ponders about finding a planet full of lesser beings so he could “be their Superman,” much like Kal-El came to Earth and became the most powerful person on the planet.
As was shown in the trailers, Cable also threatens Deadpool, which causes him to say: “Whoah, you’re so dark. Are you sure you’re not from the DC universe?” The joke’s that Josh Brolin actually has starred in a DC movie, the much-maligned Jonah Hex. Of course, so has star Ryan Reynolds, in Green Lantern.
Speaking of which…