Deadpool & Wolverine’s repeated ‘frat boy gay jokes’ spark backlash from LGBTQ+ fans
Deadpool & Wolverine came in for criticism for its numerous gay jokes. (Marvel/ Disney)
Deadpool & Wolverine is in cinemas, but queer fans aren’t happy with the repeated use of sexuality as a punchline.
Following a questionable marketing campaign in which LGBTQ+ fans of the Mercenary with a Mouth and everyone’s favourite X-Man became frustrated at the parody of the pair as a couple, Deadpool & Wolverine has hit cinemas.
Starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in the MCU film’s titular roles, initial reviews for the film have not been overwhelmingly positive, and queer fans have picked up on one common thread that they’re not thrilled about.
That is, of course, the number of jokes about Deadpool and Wolverine getting their swords/claws into each other.
One viewer has called the flick “one of Marvel’s most conservative films” due to the “insane amount of gay panic humour” and another called the film “shockingly bad – from the CGI blood to the fratboy gay jokes.”
Other viewers have pointed out that both Deadpool and Wolverine serves as the MCU introduction for the X-Men, Marvel’s team of social outcasts who have long been accepted as an allegory for the queer experience.
Both Deadpool and Wolverine are canonically not heterosexual in their comic book origins, with the former being pansexual and the latter having an alternate universe version of himself who’s gay.
Other viewers have pointed out that the ‘gay jokes’ may have been more acceptable, had the pair followed up on any of them – and that Deadpool really wasn’t joking about his attraction to Wolverine.
I get people not liking what is perceived as cheap shots at gay ppl but, like… have they heard of deadpool before? It’s not a joke, he wants to fuck Wolverine very very badly. Also he’s canonically queer so where do we go from here
— Kat🌻 (@fkdinthehead13) July 29, 2024
The film also features The Crown‘s non-binary star Emma Corrin as the film’s big bad, Cassandra Nova – and a whole slew of cameos (but not Taylor Swift).
Deadpool & Wolverine is in cinemas now.
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