The Most Pause-Worthy Moments In Deadpool

There are not a lot of leading Marvel Comics superheroes whom Hollywood has not tried to cash in on. From Blade to Spider-Man to the Fantastic Four, to the X-Men and the entire roster of the Avengers, the film industry has always shown eagerness to adapt Marvel heroes for the big screen for some of that sweet franchise money.

But there was one superhero whom the studios did not know what to do with for the longest time. Wade Wilson aka Deadpool was a Marvel Comics character who was technically a part of the X-Men, but whom the studio found too bizarre and puzzling to put into a solo movie. Actor Ryan Reynolds knew the character had the potential to be a Hollywood leading man in the right story. For a long time, Reynolds negotiated with 20th Century Fox to let him play Deadpool.

The actor even agreed to play an inaccurate and much-maligned version of the character in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" just to stay in the game. At long last, Reynolds' dedication paid off, and he was allowed to star in a proper solo "Deadpool" movie in 2016 that was a critical success and broke all kinds of box-office records for R-rated movies. Here are some of the best moments from "Deadpool" that shine a light on just how unusual and memorable Reynolds and his creative team managed to make the film.

A good movie hooks you in from the start, and "Deadpool" does that by brilliantly showcasing in its opening scene just how different this particular superhero is from the crowd. We see Ryan Reynolds' character sitting over a highway doodling a picture on a piece of paper and talking directly to the audience before jumping inside a car speeding away below him filled with criminals.

What follows is one of the most unusual superhero fight scenes ever shown in a Hollywood movie. Deadpool naturally starts beating up the criminals in the car, but he does it all while being extremely chatty and making a number of increasingly sexual jokes, like a demented, R-rated version of Spider-Man who gets way too touchy-feely with his enemies. The entire scene takes place in a vehicle speeding across the highway, upping the intensity of the action several notches.

What makes the whole thing better is that despite his comical and irreverent attitude, it's clear that Deadpool is an incredibly skilled fighter whose jokes never get in the way of his mission to take down his enemies. With that single opening scene, Reynolds immediately wins audiences over and proves he was born to play this character — just as his perennial enemy, Hugh Jackman, was born to play Wolverine.

After the appetizer of the scene in the car between Deadpool and the criminals, the action moves to the middle of a highway where everyone has more room to play. And play Deadpool does. Namely, a game of "counting bullets," as Wade informs his attackers that he only has 12 bullets, and so they will have to share some of the shots in the ensuing beatdown.

Once again the movie expertly shows how to keep audiences engaged as they count down the 12 bullets along with Deadpool. We also get to learn more about the protagonist of the movie through the action, as one of the attacker's bullets hit Wade in the arm and it starts healing itself rapidly, indicating that this is far from an ordinary assassin in a red suit. 

As Deadpool jumps, twirls, and skips his way down the number of bullets there comes a point when only a single bullet remains, but three enemies are still standing. That is when Deadpool applies the coup de grâce of firing a single bullet through the heads of all three enemies. It's the kind of over-the-top, nonsensical brilliance you could never imagine in an MCU or DCEU film and helps set Deadpool apart in the superhero entertainment landscape.

After seeing Deadpool mowing down an army of enemies while constantly joking and fourth-wall breaking, it can be easy to imagine him as an unstoppable force of nature. But seeing such a formidable man fighting disposable enemies can get boring if you already know there is nothing anyone can do to stop him or even slow him down. 

Fortunately, the movie then shows that Deadpool is far from the most powerful character in this world by introducing Colossus (Stefan Kapičić). The character, who has shown up in a few "X-Men" movies before, gets his biggest chance to shine this time around as an exasperated older-brother type who keeps trying to rein Deadpool in and mold him into a true hero. But first Colossus arrives at the highway to stop Deadpool's rampage and take him back to the X-Mansion.

For his part, Wade does not take kindly to Colossus bossing him around. He tries to fight the gigantic, chrome-plated hero by punching him. Deadpool immediately breaks his own hand, then the other one. He then tries to kick Colossus and ends up breaking his foot as well. In this way, audiences get to hilariously learn about the limits of Deadpool's strength — and Colossus' powers, too — and about Wade's lack of impulse control when he gets ticked off.

Another impressive thing about Deadpool's introduction is that it immediately makes us root for the main character despite knowing nothing about his backstory or even what he looks like. This gets revealed a little later in a flashback, when we see who Wade Wilson was before he donned the red and black spandex suit and went hunting for a man named "Francis" (Ed Skrein).

In the flashback, Wade has broken into the apartment of a strange man (Kyle Cassie). He immediately starts terrorizing the apartment owner, adding insult to injury by ordering a pizza to be delivered to the apartment. And then Wade throws another twist into the proceedings by revealing that the object of his visit was not the owner of the apartment but the pizza deliverer (Style Dayne).

Wade explains that he had promised a girl named Megan to warn the pizza guy against stalking her. For the first time in the movie, Wade drops his jokey façade as he violently slams the pizza guy into a wall and threatens him to stay away from Megan. At that moment, audiences realize that as much as Wade likes to joke around, there is a volcano of anger and violence bubbling beneath the surface, ready to explode at any moment.

Despite his constant jokes, Wade Wilson has one of the most brutal backstories in superhero movies. In flashbacks in "Deadpool," we see Wade being diagnosed with cancer. We see him try one treatment after another to stop the deadly disease, but none of them prove effective. The only hope rests with an experimental procedure being offered by a shady organization.

After Wade agrees to become a part of the organization's program, he discovers that he is not being treated for his condition. Rather, the program, headed by Francis aka Ajax, wants to bring out Wade's latent mutant superabilities by subjecting him to all kinds of gruesome torture scenarios that would force his body to act out and protect itself by bringing about a supermutation.

Thus Wade is forced to undergo one horrifically painful procedure after another. He is beaten up, burnt, asphyxiated, and regularly taken to the brink of death only to be brought back to life at the last moment. All this leads to one of the most disturbing scenes in any superhero movie, when another round of asphyxiation leads to Wade's skin turning hairless and deeply pockmarked, giving the character his classic gruesome appearance from the comics.

While being held by Ajax and his crew trying to force a mutation out of him, Wade keeps up his jokey appearance. He takes all the abuse Ajax can throw at him and manages to make jokes out of it all. But deep within, Wade is growing increasingly desperate and looking for any way to get out of captivity. 

The opportunity comes during Wade's last moments at the facility. Ajax decides that Wade is a lost cause, and in a last-ditch effort to bring out his mutant ability, Wade is to be kept in a hypobaric chamber that will keep him on the edge of death for many painful minutes before finally ending his life. Knowing this was the end of the road, one way or another, Wade manages to play one last gambit when he steals a matchstick from Angel Dust (Gina Carano), Ajax's second-in-command, without them knowing about it.

After the chamber transforms his appearance and finally triggers his super-regeneration mutation, Wade blows up his cage with the help of the matchstick. What follows is a brutal and highly R-rated fight scene, as a very naked Wade finally gets his hands on Ajax and beats him to a pulp with a fire extinguisher while everything around them is on fire.

"Deadpool" is very much a one-man show. The entire movie revolves around Wade Wilson, his transformation into Deadpool, and his quest to reunite with his girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). But the movie also has other interesting characters besides Wade. Like Weasel (TJ Miller), the bartender who is the unofficial manager of the group of mercenaries Wade works for.

Weasel provides some much-needed everyman energy to a story about an unkillable master assassin fighting an army of supervillains. It is also made clear that despite having no superpowers or any discernible special talent, Weasel is an important member of Wade's group. This is made particularly clear in the scene in which Weasel's safety is threatened.

After finding out that Wade is still alive and hunting for him, Ajax arrives with Angel Dust at the bar where Wade, Weasel, and the rest of their group conduct business. After Weasel refuses to give up Wade's location, Ajax attempts to threaten him, and Angel Dust lifts him against the wall, choking him. This immediately prompts all the other bar patrons to stand up as one and threaten Ajax if he dares to lay a finger on Weasel. It is a surprisingly sweet, funny, and feel-good moment in a movie that delights in taking a cynical approach to the superhero genre.

"Deadpool" is not the first superhero movie to have jokes in it. But it is the first one to take a perverse delight in making as many disgustingly and disturbingly R-rated jokes as possible. Since Deadpool's chief ability is an astonishingly fast regeneration factor and a willingness to bear unbearable pain, naturally a lot of the physical comedy in the film comes from his many, many, many gruesome injuries.

Case in point: when Colossus corners Wade at the start of the movie and handcuffs them together to bring Wade to Professor X's mansion. In response, Wade cuts off his own hand to escape from the situation and makes his way back home minus his hand. In any other superhero movie, Wade would have regrown his hand by the next scene. But that is not how the world of "Deadpool" operates.

Audiences get to see Wade's hand slowly growing back to its original size as he hangs around his apartment with his housemate, Blind Al (Leslie Uggams). Wade walks about with a baby hand for a spell and cracks jokes about his hand going through puberty. The gag gets taken to new extremes in "Deadpool 2," when Wade's entire lower half gets torn away and he has to slowly grow it all back.

One of the things Wade tells the audience at the start of "Deadpool" is that the film is actually a love story. While Wade leads an interesting life on his own, it is his relationship with his girlfriend, Vanessa, that kickstarts the main events of the film. After a meet-cute straight out of a twisted rom-com, Wade and Vanessa speedily take their relationship to the next level.

This treats us to a memorable montage showcasing Wade and Vanessa's evolving relationship over the year, with them celebrating various holidays in their own unusual way. From dressing up in themed clothes to making disgusting use of food during coitus to trying out ... experimental ... methods of pleasure. The intensity of the relationship between Wade and Vanessa and their genuine love for each other easily comes through during the montage.

This is important for the rest of the movie, so the audience is fully on board with Wade's efforts to get back together with Vanessa. It is also easy to understand that since theirs was such an intensely physical relationship, Wade cannot help but fear that Vanessa might not love him as much anymore since he lost his looks after his "treatment" at the hands of Francis' crew.

After "Deadpool" shows us Wade Wilson's origin story, how he got his powers, how he met and fell in love with Vanessa, and how he came up with his superhero name, it is time for the main meat of the plot. And that involves Wade becoming Deadpool in order to hunt down Ajax and force him to undo the damage to Wade's face and body.

The initial hunt for Ajax takes the form of a hilariously violent montage as Deadpool finds his bearings. Clad in a simple sweatshirt and nondescript mask, Wade bursts in on many of Ajax's associates, yelling at them to tell him where Francis is before killing them and moving on to his next target. Tired of getting his clothes soaked in the blood of his enemies, Wade also creates the Deadpool suit in the middle of the montage. 

Some of the highlights of Wade's string of murders in the montage include killing a dude very, very slowly with a Zamboni, debating over whether it would be deemed sexist to fight a female henchman, and smashing a guy's head into a vault repeatedly while an indifferent office worker watches the whole thing. Once again, "Deadpool" offers the kind of twisted action scenes you won't get in any other superhero movie.

The main villain, Ajax, works for a secret organization that creates new mutants to sell to the highest bidder. Ajax is smart and capable, and he lacks sensation in his nerve endings, meaning he can keep fighting all day long without feeling pain or exhaustion, even against someone as unstoppable as Wade Wilson.

Yet all of Ajax's menace is undermined the moment Wade discovers that his real name is "Francis." This becomes a point of intense hilarity for Wade, who keeps making jokes about Ajax's real name and refuses to call him by his supervillain codename. All of this culminates in the third act of the movie, when Wade comes to Francis' lair to confront him and rescue Vanessa.

For his part, Ajax feels no fear due to the general lack of sensation in his body. He yells at Wade to say his name. In response, Wade kills most of Ajax's henchmen and uses them to spell out "FRANCIS" on the ground. It's the kind of gory and petty move that only Deadpool could think of and hilariously execute.

The final battle in "Deadpool" is not just Wade facing off against Francis. It is Wade's entire group facing off against Ajax and his crew. On Wade's side, there is Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and Colossus. Ajax has an army of soldiers, and also Angel Dust, who has superstrength and near-invulnerability, just like Colossus.

If you are at all familiar with comic book culture, you know that if any characters with similar powers interact in any fashion, fans immediately start arguing over who'd win in a fight. This also applies to Colossus and Angel Dust, and the movie knows it. So the two square off against each other for a brutal knock-down-drag-out fight between two super strong characters. 

While Colossus is bigger, Angel Dust has better fighting skills. There is also the fact that Colossus is a true gentleman who does not relish the idea of fighting a woman. But Angel Dust has no such qualms. In the fight's most memorable moment, Angel Dust punches Colossus right in his balls. The expression of horror and pain on Colossus' face is funny enough. But what is even funnier is the deep, sonorous boom you hear when Angel Dust's fist connects with what we must assume is a pretty metallic pelvic region.

It says much about the writing and acting of "Deadpool" that it could take a minor and forgettable character from the comics like Negasonic Teenage Warhead and turn her into one of the most memorable parts of the film despite having very little screen time or dialogue. We first meet Warhead when she is being a surly teenager accompanying Colossus on his mission to bring Wade in.

Despite her very "teen" attitude of being bored by everything around her and barely bothering to speak to Wade, it is clear that Warhead does in fact come to care for him. She accompanies Wade and Colossus to Francis' lair, even though she seems like a liability at this point since audiences have yet to see her actually do anything beyond roll her eyes at Deadpool. But in the big final fight, Warhead reveals exactly why she was deemed capable enough to be an X-Men trainee.

When Wade tells her to take on Angel Dust, first Warhead holds up a finger, telling Wade to wait while she finishes texting. Then she unleashes a storm of energy so powerful it knocks Angel Dust off her feet and throws her back. An awed Wade sums up the moment perfectly with, "Oh, I so pity the dude who pressures her into prom sex."

After Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and even Dopinder (Karan Soni) have had their big "hero" moments, the final fight comes down, as it always does, to the main hero and villain. Wade Wilson aka Deadpool vs. Francis aka Ajax. Both men are highly skilled assassins with a high tolerance for pain, ridiculously fast reflexes, and a burning hatred for each other. 

The fight is a good example of what makes Deadpool so fun to watch in a battle despite him not being the biggest guy with a bunch of showy powers. Instead of ending things quickly with his guns, Deadpool draws out his katanas. For his part, Ajax comes wielding a pair of axes like a deranged woodsman, and the duo soon hacks and slashes at each other with fierce abandon.

Ajax proves he is not a threat to be taken lightly when he keeps pinning Wade down with his axes and hacking away at various body parts. But Deadpool is no slouch either. In the fight's coolest moment, Ajax throws an ax at Wade. Wade catches it midair and throws it back at him, catching Ajax with a spinning kick to the face while the latter is busy swatting away the incoming ax. The whole scene is like the most demented ballet you could ever hope to see, and it's one of the real highlights of "Deadpool."