Deadpool's Tongue In Cheek Opening Credits Were Originally Just Placeholders
2016's "Deadpool" was ridiculous, silly, juvenile, and more fun than you can stuff in a unicorn piñata. I could certainly be talking about the actual film here, but at the moment, I'm giggling over the opening credits. Set to Juice Newton's "Angel of the Morning," the slow-motion battle that leads into the opening car chase is a riot of irreverence with silly names and jokes and Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) giving someone a slo-mo wedgie, all the while being made fun of by the title cards. I don't know about you, but I'd like all comedy opening credits to be like this.
As it turns out, the names given to the cast and crew in the "Deadpool" credits weren't supposed to make it into the actual film. They were placeholders, as was revealed during a panel at 2016's Silicon Valley Comic Con (via ComicBook.com) featuring Franck Balson, the layout director for Blur Studios (co-founded by director Tim Miller). Balson spoke about why it worked out the way it did, and it's pretty wonderful.
'Okay, that's a really cool thing to have'
Opening credits usually show the names of the actors, the director, the producers, etc. However, at the time the "Deadpool" credits were being done, no one but Reynolds had been cast, according to Balson. They were beginning pre-vis for the film, and the opening credits were going to lead directly into the car chase scene, so they ended up being worked on before the rest of the casting was finished. Balson explained:
"It needed to finish exactly in this freeze-frame moment and look good. We looked at different ways to put the guys, and were just going, 'Okay, that's a really cool thing to have.' At the time, since we didn't know who was going to be in the movie, I was like, 'Okay, what do we have? So we have the Hot Chick, the bad guy, the CGI character,' and just put all those names in there."
That's all great for stand-in names, but the credits ended up being laid aside for a bit before they had to finalize the whole thing. Balson said the reaction from Reynolds, Miller, and everyone else was that they liked it the way it was. "They said, 'You know what? I think we're gonna go with what you had before, the one with the Hot Chick and stuff — it's funny!'"
These are the jokes, friends
If you haven't watched in a while, the sequence is a riot, with Reynolds' work in the disastrous "Green Lantern" and the fact that he was People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive being mocked. Reynolds himself is called "God's Perfect Idiot." Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld is nodded to with "R. Liefeld" on a coffee cup. Other names include "A British Villain," "A Hot Chick," "A Moody Teen," "A CGI Character," and "Produced by Asshats." It was written by "The Real Heroes Here" (#WGAStrong) and directed by "An Overpaid Tool."
If any film is going to open with credits that sound like they came from the end of an Honest Trailers video, "Deadpool" was the right one. Not casting aspersions on anyone in the film, which I loved with my entire heart. It's just very on-brand for an R-rated superhero comedy that came out on Valentine's Day and was actually full of enough heart to be kind of perfect for the holiday.
"Deadpool" and "Deadpool 2" are currently streaming on Disney+. "Deadpool 3" has a release date of May 3, 2024, but we'll keep you updated if the WGA and SAG/AFTRA strikes affect that.