With the “Deadpool & Wolverine” movie hitting theaters in less than two weeks, the excitement is palpable. The film’s brilliant marketing campaign has transformed fan anticipation into widespread public hype.
The buzz began long before filming, thanks to the social media saviness of the film’s leads. In September 2022, Ryan Reynolds posted a cheeky update about Deadpool:
True to Reynolds’ and Deadpool’s irreverent style, the video was full of visual gags. But the real bombshell came at the end when Hugh Jackman casually agreed to play Wolverine one more time. This unexpected moment was a shocker, given Jackman’s previous statement that “Logan” would be his last Wolverine film, and Disney’s intention to take its time integrating Fox’s mutant characters into the MCU.
(Now, to be fair, this isn’t the first time Deadpool and Wolverine have shared the silver screen. Fans remember (or perhaps, try to forget) their scenes and climactic fight in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” where Deadpool, notably mute and shooting laser beams from his eyes, faced off against Wolverine.)
A follow-up video to the announcement, posted the very next day, added more fuel to the fire:
After that initial hype, there was a lull due to the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild strikes, delaying production. But the publicity train roared back to life in July 2023, when Reynolds posted a photo of the two characters in full costume on Instagram, sending fans into a frenzy.
This was total unprecedented. Marvel Studios always keep a tight lid on the movies and TV shows that they are working on. And with this post, the fans got to see these titular characters more than a year before the movie is even set to debut. Of course, breaking from norm is on-brand for a character like Deadpool and all of these adds to the expectations for this movie.
But the real marketing campaign kicked off in February 2024 when the first teaser trailer was released. Here, viewers get a glimpse of how Wade Wilson/Deadpool has been yanked from his timeline by the Time Variance Authority to be some sort of “Marvel Jesus” to save some universe from impending doom.
As teasers go, it was enough to send the fans through the roof but apart from a flash of the icon yellow costume and the familiar *snikt* claw sound effect at the end of the trailer, Wolverine was not to be seen.
The full R-rated trailer finally dropped 3 months after that and now the fans can see Deadpool and Wolverine in full glory together! It is profane, outrageous and action packed. But most of all, the movie looks like great fun!
What followed from this official trailer were shorter clips that extended on some of the scenes as well as this brilliant public service announcement where Wolverine breaks the fourth wall:-
And now, less than two weeks before the movie is released, the cast and crew have embarked on a world tour to market and promote the film. Lucky fans got to watch the first 27 minutes of the film and responses were extremely positive.
In short, the buzz around this movie has now become a deafening worldwide roar thanks to its unconventional marketing campaign. Let’s hope that it is able to live up to the now astronomical expectations.