Deadpool Is Officially Bigger Than Jesus

If you think about it, Deadpool and the big JC have a decent amount in common. They both have a habit of coming back from the dead, they’re both very close with an “escort,” and apparently, neither of them are capable of keeping it PG-13.

Upon the release of Deadpool vs. Wolverine this past Friday, the newest Marvel film saw backlash and boycott from a contingency of conservative Christians who objected to the former titular antihero repeatedly calling himself “Marvel Jesus.” Despite the blasphemous bit being featured in promos and trailers for Deadpool vs. Wolverine, the “Marvel Jesus” joke provoked many pearl-clutching Christians, who presumably paid full ticket price to see the latest superhero blockbuster, to walk out of the theater and post TikToks of themselves warning other easily offended followers of non-Marvel Jesus not to waste their money on the movie.

Well, not only did the boycott fail, but Deadpool just gave hardcore Christians an even bigger reason to blow a fuse. This Sunday, right on the sabbath, Deadpool vs. Wolverine will pass The Passion of the Christ as the highest-grossing R-rated film in Hollywood history with $380 million domestically and counting. 

American moviegoers have officially traded the cross for a crossover.

Ever since Deadpool star and producer Ryan Reynolds began the franchise in 2016 after years of trying to convince movie studios that a crass, comical, R-rated superhero series centered around Marvel’s most meta antihero could be a financial success, the now-trilogy has been inching toward The Passion of the Christ's record $370.7 domestic figure that it posted in 2004, thanks in large part to overwhelming support from the same people who are now unsuccessfully trying to stop Deadpool vs. Wolverine’s box office dominance. 

The first Deadpool put up $363 million in the U.S., and Deadpool 2 took a slight step back with $325 million in 2018. But in just a few days, Deadpool vs. Wolverine will pass The Passion of the Christ in only its second weekend in theaters as the critically and commercially successful superhero film aims to demolish the domestic box office mark previously set by director Mel Gibson and his two-hour-long evangelical torture porn. 

Maybe Gibson should have thought about breaking the fourth wall instead of the blood-alcohol limit.