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Credit: Inside the MagicAs American citizens get closer and closer to November’s presidential election, it seems that anti-woke crusaders who may be losing faith in Donald J. Trump have found someone new to cling to: Deadpool.
In one of the stranger developments in 2024 pop culture, Deadpool & Wolverine, the R-rated, gore and profanity-filled Marvel Cinematic Universe film, is being embraced by conservatives as a fantastic anti-woke movie and a symbol of the direction that Disney needs to go in.
Never mind that right-wing parent groups and Trump-affiliated legal foundations are trying to take action against The Walt Disney Company (which owns Marvel Studios) for not being family-friendly enough; it seems that the intentionally gratuitous violence and sexual references of Deadpool & Wolverine are striking a chord with a sizable segment of the conservative side of the country.
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In an article titled “Is Disney Finally Learning When It Goes Woke, It Goes Broke?” the prominent conservative publication The Federalist (previously known for attempting to take on Dolly Parton) argues that Deadpool & Wolverine, which stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as the title characters, is the ideal kind of anti-woke movie that Disney needs to be making right now. It asserts:
“It has been a good few weeks for the The Walt Disney Company. Its two most recent films are history-setting box office successes, and the company that has spent years hemorrhaging money may be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel if it takes the right lessons away from its success.”
“Commenters have noted that Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine mark a noted departure from the implicit “wokeness” of many of Disney’s box office bombs. “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which grossed more in its opening weekend than “The Marvels” did in its entire theatrical run, makes fun of cancel culture, feminism, and wokeness.“
To begin with, it should be noted that “wokeness” is a highly nebulous and debated term. Merriam-Webster defines it as “the state or condition of being woke (as in matters of racial and social justice).”
For some reason, the Christian Medical & Dental Associations weighed in, describing it as “another tiresome manifestation of how pride-driven people behave. Common elements of a prideful mindset include moral absolutism, moral grandstanding and a compulsion to control the behavior of others.”
More succinctly, it’s probably fair to call wokeness the term that conservatives used to replace the old-fashioned “political correctness” and is itself currently being phased out for “DEI.”
In addition to The Federalists, other conservative voices on social media have chimed in to embrace Wade Wilson and Logan’s adventures across Multiversal realities as an antidote to the liberal mindset.
Twitter user @Missus_Massacre posted, “Deadpool & Wolverine is not only *not* woke…it’s completely ANTI-woke. It was so refreshing to see two heterosexual badass male heroes in a movie again and no f⭐cking virtue signaling anywhere in sight. Just a great movie. @Disney don’t f⭐ck this up. #DeadpoolWolverine”
Deadpool & Wolverine is not only *not* woke…it's completely ANTI-woke. It was so refreshing to see two heterosexual badass male heroes in a movie again and no f⭐cking virtue signaling anywhere in sight. Just a great movie. @Disney don't f⭐ck this up. #DeadpoolWolverine pic.twitter.com/tKFNjqPjg6
— MRS. MASSACRE (@Missus_Massacre) July 28, 2024
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More directly to the point, social media users are also circulating a painting of former President Donald Trump being defended by Deadpool and Wolverine, in some kind of fever dream of Marvel Team-Up:
Artist Depicts Trump Protected by Deadpool and Wolverine in Epic Painting!#Trump #DeadpoolAndWolverine #Wolverine #EpicArt #GabrieleSerrini #popart #PoliticalArt #ComicArt #ViralArt #ArtLovers pic.twitter.com/XXvdkB7Y5W
— Ronin (@HelloRonin) July 21, 2024
Long story short, anti-woke conservatives seem to be working overtime to present Deadpool, a hyperviolent Canadian pansexual mercenary with a penchant for cocaine, to be on their side or, at the very least, ideologically in line with Trump and his MAGA movement.
Related: Hugh Jackman Speaks Out on Leaving Marvel Behind After Disney Scrapped ‘Deadpool 3’
Ryan Reynolds previously said he was “terrified of Trump” and that “Minority groups, women, LGBTQ communities — those are all communities that I think are rightfully very afraid for the moment, and I’m afraid with them and for them.”
His wife, Blake Lively (who appears in his latest film as Lady Deadpool), said that the Trump administration worried her “as a human being who cares about other human beings and our rights and our liberties and what we value.”
But aside from star/co-writer/co-producer Ryan Reynolds’ personal opinions about Trump, it is interesting to see conservatives in America embracing Deadpool as a symbol of where the country needs to be going.
In almost every way imaginable, the Merc with the Mouth is the antithesis of family-friendly, thoughtful, respectful, or emblematic of “traditional values.” But perhaps that’s why they can see him defending Trump.
Deadpool & Wolverine is currently in theaters. It stars Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Matthew Macfadyen, and Emma Corrin, as well as a shocking number of cameos from previous Marvel movies. The film was directed by Shawn Levy, who co-wrote along with Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Zeb Wells.
Do you think Deadpool & Wolverine is an anti-woke movie?