Deadpool Escapes: Meta-Marketing from Fox

WRITTEN BY: Roger McDonald

Deadpool surprised everyone two years ago when it became the 2nd highest grossing R-rated movie of all time. Somewhat ironically, Mel Gibson’s 2004 film Passion of the Christ currently holds the number one spot.

The 2016 Ryan Reynolds film was unable to dethrone the King of Kings at the box office. However, Deadpool was almost immediately approved for a sequel following critical and commercial success. Mel Gibson had to wait 14 years to finally get approval to resurrect Jim Caviezel’s career.

The meta-marketing campaign for Deadpool 2 has been in full force for the past few months leading up to it’s May 18th theatrical release. 20th Century Fox embraced the Merc with a Mouth’s knack for knocking on the fourth wall.

First, we saw the masked mercenary fill the shoes of famous painter and TV host, Bob Ross. Next, we saw a not-so-finished first look at the sequel’s new villain, Cable.

Then, we were treated to an official Celine Dion music video for her song “Ashes”. This was soon accompanied by an in-character behind-the-scenes featurette.

More recently, we’ve seen an apology to David Beckam for jokes made at his expense in the first film. Finally, a documentary-style interview was released yesterday that truly blurs the lines between movie canon and real life.

Fox’s newest bit of meta-marketing, however, really takes the chimichanga. Deadpool has slipped his way onto new slip covers for several of 20th Century Fox’s biggest film titles to promote the 2-year anniversary-edition of Deadpool.

These slip covers have been packaged over the original films and can actually be purchased right now at your local Walmart. In addition, The Regenerating Degenerate’s invasion of these classic films also found its way to their respective facebook pages, accompanied by the hashtag #DeadpoolEscapes.

Take a look at some of these clever parody covers and be sure to catch Deadpool 2 in theaters everywhere now!