By Meg Downey on May 19, 2018 08:30 pm
From '80s movies to obscure comics to meta jokes about the actors themselves, Deadpool 2 is full of the gags, references, and winks you've no doubt come to expect from the Merc With a Mouth. In that spirit, we've gathered up a list of the best and most clever Easter Eggs and callbacks from the movie that you may or may not have missed. Of course, maybe you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to find out the best jokes Deadpool 2 has to offer before you can see it on the big screen. You know the drill: everything beyond this point is full of potential spoilers, so please tread carefully!
1. The Not-So-Empty X-Mansion
Much like the first Deadpool, Deadpool 2 has an extremely limited selection of active X-Men between Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and the new Yukio. Wade's made a few cracks about this before, pointing out that it's probably because they couldn't get the rights--which is most likely the real reason--but this time around, we got an actual in-universe reason. There are other X-Men in the mansion, they're just straight up avoiding poor DP. In a brief shot as Wade walks through the mansion, we see a room full of familiar faces--Beast, Professor X, Quicksilver, Cyclops, and more--trying to slyly close the door to the room they're hiding in without Wade noticing. Rude.
2. Marrow in Prison
A split-second glimpse around the Mutant prison known as the Ice Box gives us a look at some of the other mutants that might exist in this universe. One, in particular, seems to have giant bone spikes growing out of their back, a clear nod to the X-Man named Marrow who, strangely, was also referenced back in the first Deadpool during the experimentation scenes of Wade's origin story. So, she either survived that whole ordeal and wound up in prison or there are just two different mutants with the same incredibly unfortunate mutation running around.
3. Interview with the Vampire
Wade's trusty cab driver, Dopinder, has a running obsession with the 1994 film, Interview with the Vampire, starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and a young Kirsten Dunst. The references and ongoing gags come full circle when Pitt makes a surprise cameo as the invisible hero "Vanisher" just seconds before he dies.
4. Yentl vs. Cable
Wade's depressive episode leaves him watching the 1983 Barbra Streisand movie Yentl and fixating on the song "Papa Can You Hear Me?" As if his being a fan weren't enough of a gag already, Wade's love of Streisand has a specific meta-joke built in--she just so happens to be Cable actor Josh Brolin's stepmom. Furthermore, he's not wrong about how similar the song and Frozen's "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" is.
5. Colossus vs. Juggernaut
In the climactic final showdown, Colossus winds up facing off against the unstoppable Juggernaut in a knock-down-drag-out fist fight. If you think those are two characters who are pretty much destined to go head-to-head, you'd be correct--over in the comics, the two have a long, long history of getting into brawls. They're so in each other's orbit that Colossus even became the new Juggernaut for a while.
6. Hope Summers
We only get the briefest glimpse of Cable's family during the flash-forwards to the future, but he confirms his daughters name as "Hope" as he speaks about her. This is an obvious nod to Hope Summers, a mutant of some distinction over in the comics universe. Hope was the first mutant born after the House of M event where Scarlet Witch famously altered reality so that there were "no more mutants."
7. Shatterstar's Green Blood
Lewis Tan's Shatterstar was not long for this world and, potentially, totally crazy as he attempted to explain his superpowers ("being better than you") and his origin, ("from Mojoworld") to an extremely unimpressed Deadpool. However, as he met his tragic end the blood splatter we saw was actually neon green rather than red meaning he actually (probably) wasn't delusional. He wasn't from this planet after all.
8. A Cure for Blindness
In a call back to the first movie, Wade pulls up some of the floorboards of Blind Al's apartment, finding a ton of cocaine and bags labeled "cure for blindness." He joked about both the drugs and the "cure" (which, honestly, is probably just more cocaine) in Deadpool 1 before he went off to face Ajax for the final time, implying if he didn't make it back safe Al would never find it. Apparently, he was telling at least part of the truth.
9. May As Well Be Hawkeye
After being strapped with a power damping collar, Wade makes a crack about how now that he's powerless and riddled with cancer, if you gave him a bow and arrow he "may as well be Hawkeye." A cheap shot, sure, but considering the outcry over Hawkeye's absence in both in Infinity War's promotional material and the movie itself, it's certainly a topical one.
10. Cerebro
Though the brief Professor X cameo we get in the X-Mansion seemed to be the James McAvoy version, there's plenty of love for the original to be found. Deadpool is shown playing with Cerebro (much to Colossus's dismay) and, when forced to finally stop messing around, says "it smells like Patrick Stewart in here."
11. Echoes of Mister Sinister
The nefarious mutant-hating organization responsible for both Firefist and Domino is known as the "Essex House," a sort of mutant orphanage that acts as a front for a zealous torturer experimenting on kids. The name Essex seems to be a nod to Nathaniel Essex, aka Mister Sinister, a longtime X-Men foe.
12. Deadpool vs. Deadpool
During the post-credits scene, Wade gleefully hops over continuity boundaries to make a trip into X-Men Origins: Wolverine where he, technically, made his live-action debut. The version in Origins, also played by Reynolds, was so unrecognizable as Deadpool that it's become a running gag for fans and one that the current Deadpool was all too happy to finally be rid of.
13. Erasing Green Lantern
The final moment of the post-credits scene involves Wade traveling back in time to the home of none other than Ryan Reynolds just as he gets the script for the infamously bad Green Lantern live-action movie. Reynolds has never lived starring as the CGI-suited Hal Jordan down and, despite Deadpool literally putting a bullet between the eyes of the ongoing joke, it's unlikely that it will ever stop haunting him.
14. Four or Five Moments
While trying to decide what he's going to do with the abusers at the Essex House, Wade begins talking about how being a hero only takes "four or five" moments, small decisions that make big impacts in your life. His speech is lifted almost line for line (with a few extremely Deadpool adjustments) from Colossus's final monologue in Deadpool 1. It seems like Wade was paying enough attention that first time around to remember exactly what Colossus had said but whether or not he actually internalized the message is still pretty up for debate.
15. Meet Black Tom
One of the only named side characters in the Ice Box prison is a mutant named Black Tom Cassidy who becomes the punchline of a running joke about Cable's imagined racism. Black Tom is actually a long-time enemy of Deadpool in the comics and partner of the Juggernaut. Black Tom doesn't seem to have a connection to Cain in this universe, but the name check alone was some pretty great foreshadowing.
16. Can't Draw Feet
Wade, becoming increasingly frustrated with Domino's hard to explain "luck" superpowers, comments that she must have been created by a "freakshow artist" who "probably can't draw feet." This, of course, is a nod to/jab at artist Rob Liefeld who co-created Cable, Domino, and Deadpool and who is also infamously bad at human anatomy.
17. Sword Swinging Deadpool
While facing off on the prison transport, Cable does his level best to shoot Wade with a handgun as Wade "deflects" the bullets with his two katanas. Or, well, he tries to deflect the bullets and winds up riddled with holes. This scene is a play off of a moment in X-Men Origins: Wolverine in which Ryan Reynolds' first incarnation of Deadpool pulled off a similar stunt to much greater effect.
18. Say Anything
As Wade finally decides to ask the X-Men for help, he tries to summon them outside of the mansion by holding a boombox over his head while standing on their law. Well, okay, not a boombox exactly, a boombox app on his phone, but it's the thought that counts. Who even has a real boombox anymore? Anyway, this was a clear nod to the iconic 1989 movie Say Anything with Wade doing his best John Cusack impression.
19. The Sun's Getting Real Low, Big Guy
Wade is left to make a few desperate Hail Mary plays as he tries and fails miserably to fight the Juggernaut for the first time. One such plan is to pull a page out of Black Widow's (and Thor's) playbook from the Marvel Cinematic Universe for calming down the Hulk by reciting a mantra that goes "the sun's gettin' real low, big guy." Surprising no one, it doesn't work--but between this moment and Thor: Ragnarok, this just might be the first in-universe superhero meme.
20. Black and White Deadpool
After the final fight leaves him scorched and covered in ash, Deadpool's red-and-black costume takes on a distinctly black-and-white look. This was a clever way to wink at the comics version of Wade's X-Force costume, which he wore when he first officially joined the team back in 2012.
By Dan Auty on May 19, 2018 03:18 pm
The Japanese company Sanrio are best known in the west for Hello Kitty; for over 40 years the anthropomorphic cat has been one of the most popular brands in the world. But Sanrio has made a lot more than just Hello Kitty--Gudetama, Keroppi, Pochacco, My Melody, and Badtz Maru are among the popular kawaii characters that have played a major part in Japanese pop-culture over the years. Retsuko is the latest addition to the Sanrio family. While the adorable red panda at the center of the brilliant new Netflix show Aggretsuko looks every bit as cute as these other characters, she is very different. For a start she is an adult, a 25-year-old trying to navigate life in the big city. She hates her job in accounting, which has slowly crushed her once optimistic outlook on life. But Retsuko has a secret--after work every night she heads to a karaoke bar and rids herself of all her frustrations by screaming death metal into the mic she carries with her at all times. The entire first season of Aggretsuko is now on Netflix, and to celebrate, here's all the times that Retsuko gets mad...
1. "S****y Boss!"
Episode 1 Retsuko suffers her daily humiliation from Mr Ton, who mocks her tea-making abilities and then announces that at least incompetent women "are better than the competent ones." During a restroom break, Retsuko delivers a screaming critique of her disgusting boss. "Looking at your face just makes me sick," she screams. "How can anybody be such a d**k?"
2. "Choke on my rage!"
Episode 1 The episode ends with Retsuko after work in her happy place--yelling cathartic death metal at the local karaoke bar. "End of the world, karaoke all alone! Heal all the pain from my office job!"
3. "Strike them down!"
Episode 2 Retsuko is forced to watch Ton playing golf in the office while grumbling about his need for a vacation. "Lightning rant ne your vengeance!" she screams, imagining bolts of lightning hitting Ton, his weasley assistant Komiya, and her bullying supervisor Tsubone, blasting them from the face of the planet.
4. "Team players lose!"
Episode 2 Retsuko's workload just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and it doesn't help that her brutally honest colleague Fenneko calls her a "cowardly robot" for not standing up for herself. "You tell me that I'm just a drone! Plain vanilla life 'till the moment I die!" Retsuko screams in resignation.
5. "I am triumphant!"
Episode 3 Tired of being pushed around and with a new job on the horizon, Retsuko finally stands up to Tsubone and tell her to do her own work instead of giving it all to her. At the karaoke bar later, she lets a out a howl of triumph.
6. "Matrimonial freedom!"
Episode 4 With her dreams of quitting her job to join Puko's import/export business gone, Retsuko comes with a new plan--find a man, get married, and live off his earnings. "Matrimonial freedom!" she bellows in the work bathroom.
7. "The pain never ends"
Episode 5 This episode opens with Retsuko in the bar ranting about nothing in particular; it's just a cathartic "scream into the darkness!"
8. "Death metal forever!"
Episode 5 Retsuko is talked into going to karaoke by Washimi and Gori, her new yoga buddies. Reluctant to reveal that she is a regular, she spends ages choosing a song, before Gori reads outs in the code given to her by their mysterious fitness instructor. The result is a furious display of Retsuko's full metal powers, much to Washimi and Gori's delight.
9. "Why did this happen?"
Episode 6 Retsuko takes Tsundo's advice about how to win Mr Ton over, but it goes horribly wrong, and she ends up being yelled at even more. Luckily there's always karaoke to vent her feelings of deep frustration.
10. "I called you out hard and I'mma get away clean!"
Episode 7 It seems that Retsuko isn't the only karaoke monster in the office. At work drinks, Ton and Retsuko engage in a vocal duel. Ton's weapon-of-choice is classic hip-hop, and he delivers a devastating smackdown. "Meek and mediocre, you never really stand out, waiting for your check like its nothing but a hand-out!"
11. "I hate you so much!"
Episode 7 But of course, Ton's rhyming skills are no match for Retsuko's demented death-bellow. In response, she unleashes an apocalyptic blast of metal mayhem upon him. "Look at you there, wanting a reply! Here it comes pig, here's my battle cry! You're a s****y boss!!!"
12. "Too many beers!"
Episode 8 Not really a song, but even the sounds of Retsuko vomiting after too many beers sounds great with a death metal accompaniment.
13. "Metal til I die!"
Episode 11 After Ton gives her surprisingly heartfelt advice about her self-worth, Retsuko realises that she must tell her boyfriend Resasuke who she really is; namely a meek office worker by day, screaming metal demon by night! She takes him to karaoke and puts on her favourite song. "Underneath the smile I'm metal to the bottom of my soul!!!" She howls in his non-plussed face. They break up minutes later.
By Mat Elfring on May 19, 2018 03:51 am
Let's face the facts. As much as another streaming service being launched onto an already crowded market may be annoying, this is the way the world is moving. Some of these new services may not be up your alley; however, when DC Entertainment announced its new service "DC Universe," people like me--giant comic book nerds--celebrated the seemingly endless possibilities. When the news of DC Universe first launched, a group of new shows were announced, including a live-action Swamp Thing series, and more recently, a Doom Patrol series. One of the first shows announced was Young Justice: Outsiders, and while there have been little to no details about the series, it's pretty obvious it's a followup to the 2011 animated series Young Justice, which was bonkers good. That got us thinking. What DC animated series would we like to see added to DC Universe? The company's new streaming service has to have classic shows on there, and what DC has done exceptionally well, in the past, is animated series. So we put together a list of shows that DC Universe needs to include when it launches. However, not all of these shows are fantastic, there's a few stinkers on here for the sake of nostalgia.
Batman: The Animated Series (1992)
Number of episodes: 109 (Including The Adventures of Batman & Robin and The New Batman Adventures) Currently streaming on: Amazon Video There is no other show in DC's vaults that defines who Batman is better than Batman: The Animated Series. It is what every comic book cartoon should strive to be. It developed its own animated style, tone, and look, all while appealing to both the young and the old. The best part is that the show still holds up. While we're not discussing DC's straight-to-DVD movies just yet--and most of them are amazing--if DC is including this series, then the movie Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is a must have for the service, as it takes place in the same Batman universe
Batman Beyond (1999)
Number of episodes: 52 Currently streaming on: The show itself isn't streaming anywhere, but the movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is on Amazon. Batman Beyond is about a young kid in the future, who finds out a very old Bruce Wayne used to be Batman, and now, that kid becomes a new Batman. It takes place in a bright, futuristic city, and it's filled with raves. While, on paper, that may not sound appealing, it encapsulates everything you love about Batman, through a brand new set of eyes.
Superman: The Animated Series (1996)
Number of episodes: 54 Currently streaming on: Amazon Video Following in the footsteps of Batman: The Animated Series, Superman got his own show in 1996, and the art style followed its Dark Knight predecessor. It is easily one of the best small or big screen adaptations of Superman.
Wild C.A.T.S.(1994)
Number of episodes: 13 Not everything on this list is going to be an amazing series hailed by critics as nothing short of "glorious." There are a few misses as well, and the first is the X-Men-esque Wild C.A.T.S. based on the Wildstorm comic of the same name. It's very much a reminder of how not everything from the '90s was gold, no matter how Xtreme it was. What it boils down to is I just want to see an animated Grifter again.
Static Shock (2000)
Number of episodes: 52 Based on the Milestone/DC Comic series of the same name, and created by Denys Cowen and the late Dwayne McDuffie, the series follows a teenager who gains the ability to control magnetism after a chemical explosion. McDuffie himself cited that one of the main factors of its cancellation was low toy sales, which was a bummer since the show was so much fun.
Justice League/Justice League Unlimited (2001)
Number of episodes: 91 Essentially the same show, Justice League/Justice League Unlimited was the third animated series developed by Bruce Timm, who brought us Superman and Batman previously. While Justice League focused on the core team, Unlimited expanded the team by featuring new JLA members every week.
Batman: Brave And The Bold (2008)
Number of episodes: 65 You may have missed out on Brave and the Bold because it was marketed as a kids show, and for all intents and purposes, it totally was. However, it is also, without a doubt, one of the funniest cartoons ever put out by DC, especially anytime Aquaman showed up. It was Adam West's Batman as an animated series, but the volume was turned up to 11. It also had one of the best series finales of any superhero show.
Swamp Thing (1991)
Number of episodes: 5 Much like Wild C.A.T.S., Swamp Thing isn't a great show, and the episode count should tell you that. Before the live-action version rolls around in 2019, this animated series should be available on DC Universe. Swamp Thing was a departure from the comic series, as the cartoon was action-based and has Swamp Thing and friends fighting the Un-Men. It's another case of people in charge getting the formula completely wrong and trying to jam a well-known character into a '90s action cartoon.
Super Friends (1973)
Number of episodes: 109 Super Friends is the show that created the "Aquaman is lame" stigma, and it continues to stick, regardless of what Peter David or Geoff Johns did with his comic book series. It was a light-hearted and sometimes silly '70s series that had the Justice League--with some new friends like the Wonder Twins--taking on the bad guys of the Legion of Doom. It's cheesy, but it is classic Saturday morning cartoon fare.
The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show (1979)
Number of episodes: 61 (First three seasons) The Plastic Man series was a delight. The show followed the comedic character as he stopped crimes and helped people out. There were a lot of Scooby Doo elements to the series, but the comedy was a whole lot better. It knew it was silly and had no problems exploiting that. While the series kept changing the cast, we're only counting the first three seasons in the episode count, as Plastic Man and his family faded from the show after that.
Teen Titans (2003)
Number of episodes: 65 Teen Titans was a superhero team that skewed to a younger audience, as everyone on the team was a teenager. The show followed Robin, Beast Boy, Raven, Cyborg, and Starfire as they worked together to stop crime in the city. It was fast-paced and fun for a serious superhero show.
Teen Titans Go! (2013)
Number of episodes: 205 Currently streaming on: Hulu Teen Titans Go! is just 2003's Teen Titans with the wackiness amplified beyond belief. What's craziest about the series is that has the same voice cast as the original. The team goes on crazy adventures in their Titans Tower and tends to sing a lot of bizarre songs about their journeys. If you want more Teen Titans Go!, there's a feature-length movie coming to theaters July 27.
The Batman (2004)
Number of episodes: 65 While it is near impossible to follow up what Batman: The Animated Series accomplished, 2004's The Batman did just that by not replicating its predecessor and crafting its own style. It was another series that told the story of Batman and his journey to protect Gotham City. The show pulled stories from DC comic books and along with its unique art style, the series ended up winning over most Batman fans.
Young Justice (2011)
Number of episodes: 46 With Young Justice: Outsiders launching on the service, DC Universe better include the original Young Justice series, which is easily the best superhero team show from DC Entertainment. It follows the next generation of superheroes who are all trying to prove themselves to the Justice League.
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