Ah, the ’90s. If you remember the final decade of the 20th century fondly, odds are, you weren’t there. Sure, the Cold War was over, and we had world peace, except for little stuff like the Gulf War, the Bosnian and Rwandan genocides, the First Chechen War, and some other minor slaughters. The economy was good, unless you happened to graduate into the early 1990s recession that followed the Gulf War. Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992 to the tune of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow),” ending 12 years of Reaganite political domination. Except that Clinton governed like Republican Lite, expanding the War on Drugs and the carceral state. As a reward, Newt Gingrich impeached him.
The kids’ response to the Clintonian utopia was a resounding “whatever.” The 1990s began in the spring of 1989 when Heathers made its brief theatrical run. Winona Ryder’s devastating deadpan sarcasm became the coin of cool. If Douglas Copeland’s novel Generation X gave us a name, Richard Linklater’s indie film Slacker gave us what passed for an ethos. The newly formed Comedy Central’s flagship show was Mystery Science Theater 3000, where robots made fun of “cheesy” movies in space. Sincerity was passé. Snark reigned supreme.
In the comic book world, the ’90s were the worst of times. Marvel tried to freshen up their product with young talent like artist Rob Liefeld (now notorious for his obsession with pouches, which made his characters look like walking cargo shorts) and writer Fabian Nicieza, who created Deadpool. In superhero comics, everything is deadly serious. World-saving is a regular event. Only Deadpool doesn’t keep up the kayfabe. As the only character in the Marvel universe who knows he’s in a comic book, he frequently broke the fourth wall, looking directly at the reader and making snarky comments about the action. Yes, this whole superhero trip is ridic, Deadpool says, but we both know it, and I’ve already got your money, so let’s have fun with it.
The Age of Snark lasted until the mid-’00s, when The New Sincerity and Poptimism arrived with the millennials. The new young people were sick of the old young people’s bullshit. Thus it has always been, and will be again.
The rise of the New Sincerity corresponded neatly with the cinematic superhero onslaught. Marvel, struggling to survive, sold the rights to their crown jewels to Twentieth Century Fox in 1994. It took until 2000 for X-Men to finally hit the screen. The somber, self-serious adventure was a huge hit, and made a star out of Aussie song-and-dance man Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine, the coolest X-Man. Deadpool, whose X-Force super-team was included in the Marvel/Fox deal, was introduced in the 2008 spinoff X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Played by Ryan Reynolds, he was just another glum, violent superguy. Then, Marvel sold its B-team The Avengers to Disney, and Iron Man exploded in 2008. As Marvel stole their lunch money, the X-Men films descended into morose nonsense, and Ryan Reynolds was given free rein to get snarky with Deadpool in 2016.
Now, Disney owns Twentieth Century Fox, and their oh-so-sincere Marvel Cinematic Universe, having nearly destroyed the film industry with the magnitude of its success, is passé. Deadpool to the rescue! He’s snarky like you, fellow teenagers!
Deadpool & Wolverine tries to rise above the Marvel muck by diving into the deep end of the lore pool. It’s not about the history of these characters. Hugh Jackman’s poignant swan song as old man Wolverine in Logan is erased and mocked in the cold open, when Deadpool brutally murders agents of the Time Variance Authority (TVA) with pieces of Wolvie’s adamantium skeleton. No, this film is about the business history of the characters, and brand positioning for future exploitation. Deadpool and Wolverine are banished by the TVA to The Void, where comic book characters who have been discarded by the poptomist machine sit in limbo. There are many cameos by former superhero actors showing up for a paycheck. I won’t spoil the “fun” by telling you who they are, except to say that Daredevil Ben Affleck apparently has all the money he needs.
But, a meta hero needs a meta movie. The Disney brass is celebrating the success of Deadpool & Wolverine as the redemption of the MCU business model. Don’t be so sure. Is it good when the only way you can juice sales is by making fun of your own product with ultraviolent gay jokes? Isn’t getting snarky about Marvel movies my job?
Oh well, at least the fake-ass New Sincerity is truly and finally dead. Long live snark! Or not. Whatever.
Deadpool & Wolverine
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