Deadpool 3 isn’t a terribly difficult movie to market for. Marvel fans are already looking for any scrap of information they can get on their next film. The internet scours posts, podcasts, and pictures for information because the tiniest mistake that slipped past production could be the biggest reveal of what happens next in the MCU. And that’s just the average Marvel fan. Deadpool has one of the nerdiest audiences in all of Marvel, and these people know their stuff. In truth, Ryan Reynolds could sneeze “Wade Wilson” and they would be on top of it.
But just because it’s easy doesn’t mean he’s not doing a good job of it. Ryan Reynolds knows the game he’s playing, and he’s loving every second of it. The Deadpool movies are uniquely good at making callbacks to everything that fans care about, and Wade Wilson’s self-awareness makes him the only character capable of the comedic commentary fans want. So when Reynolds makes a post about Deadpool 3, he knows his fans are watching. When he first started stoking the fires for Deadpool 3, all he had to do was joke about how he didn’t have anything to show. Now, even though the movie is more than a year away, the marketing for Deadpool 3 will be better targeted than any other movie in the MCU.
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Ryan Reynolds Knows His Fans
20th Century Fox
A year and a half ago, Reynolds put out a 13-second video that was just a picture of Deadpool’s head in a bag, with Reynolds doing a short voiceover. It was titled “Deadpool 3 Teaser” and it came out when fans had been calling for a new Deadpool sequel due to Disney’s relatively recent purchase of Fox.
When fans clicked on the video, they were expecting their first footage of Deadpool 3, but what they got was Reynolds jokingly telling the world “Oh, well, we don’t have anything like that.” That kind of sarcasm played perfectly in a dialogue between the Deadpool character and his fans, and it got everyone riled up about the possibility of a new movie. Executives must’ve thought that if Reynolds could get people this excited in 13 seconds by telling them he had nothing, think of how excited they would be for a two-hour movie. Quite simply, it was easy to sell to everyone.
You can say it’s the talent, or you can say it’s the writing, but Ryan Reynolds’ spectacular irony is a match made in heaven with Deadpool. In a cinematic universe filled with massive CGI explosions and beautifully rendered environments, Reynolds gives you two actors, relaxing on a couch at home. When the Deadpool 3 announcement became official, Reynolds and Hugh Jackman posted a TikTok that nearly broke the internet. It was what everyone in Marvel was talking about for the whole week. Reynolds very calmly announced Deadpool 3 by asking an apathetic Hugh Jackman, who was passing on the stairs, if he would play Wolverine in the film. It was perfect in its simplicity. And giving the fans a clue about the narrative made the whole thing work even better.
Deadpool Is Perfect on Social Media
@VancityReynolds
Reynolds knows what his audience wants and how to give it to them. These low-key stunts didn’t require any kind of massive budget or serious editing, it was just the right information at the right time. The Deadpool/Wolverine angle was just a good decision for the film because it’s been a legendary comic book match-up since either character got their healing factor. What Reynolds can do now to promote his movie won’t require much effort. Deadpool 3 was one of the biggest Phase 5 announcements in the MCU, and it’s being developed almost entirely parallel to everything Marvel already has planned.
At the moment the release date for Deadpool 3 is set for November 8, 2024. That’s a long time to keep the hype going for a new Marvel film. And it’s not like Reynolds is going to keep dropping ads and posts every week until the premiere. But the fan base is extremely loyal and everyone is still excited despite the long wait. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are now in somewhat of a dialogue on social media. As they prepare for their big MCU debut, they both go back and forth with each other, trading friendly barbs.
Recently, before the Oscar nominations were announced, Reynolds had been short-listed by the Academy for Best Original Song in his movie Spirited. Hugh Jackman got wind of this and, as an actor who began his career in musicals, begged the Oscar voters on Instagram not to vote for him and started worrying about how Reynolds wouldn’t stop bragging if he won. Reynolds made his own reaction videos, poking the bear, so to speak, to get the hype going for the Wolverine vs Deadpool rivalry. But both stars have also been complimenting each other on their respective performances and are fairly well tied together on social media.
There don’t need to be any expensive ad campaigns or big public stunts; the actors’ relationship is enough to generate hype in the fanbase. Deadpool might not be the most mainstream Marvel IP, but it’s generating a lot of excitement for itself without trying very hard.
