This weekend, one of the most anticipated movies of the summer will be making its premiere: Deadpool & Wolverine. The film features two of the biggest characters from the Marvel Universe, and stars two of the hottest actors in Hollywood, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
For comic book fans, this movie has been something they have been clamouring for ever since the first on-screen appearance of Wolverine in the first X-Men movie, which was released in 2000. Canadian comic book fans are even more excited about the movie, as Deadpool is from Saskatchewan, according to Marvel canon, and Wolverine is from Alberta.
Wolverine is one character who is synonymous with Marvel comics, explained Ethan White. He is the owner of Sky’s The Limit Comics in Weyburn. White explained the character is one of the older characters in that fictional universe.
“I wouldn’t really say from the very beginning, but he was there quite early, and he is chronologically one of the oldest characters in the franchise, well over a hundred even though he doesn’t really look it,” White shared.
As for Deadpool, he was already a fan favourite before the first Deadpool movie hit theatres in 2016, and his fanbase has grown since.
“I think one of the few reasons that everybody likes Deadpool is just because he’s so unhinged, and everybody can relate to that in some way, shape, or form, and Deadpool is just hilarious,” White added. “He breaks the fourth wall a lot, regardless if it’s in the movies or in the comics, and he’s just overall insane... in a good way.”
For those who want to pick up the comics to catch up with their favourite on-screen characters, though, White cautions that what is portrayed in theatres doesn't always line up with how they are portrayed on paper.
In the movies, Wolverine is portrayed as a loner, while in the comics, he does have a close association with quite a few different people and is also a dad.
“He’s just feral and aggressive when he needs to be, but under that tough exterior there is that loving father figure, even though he doesn’t really show it a lot,” White noted about the character.
As for Deadpool, the differences are a bit more subtle.
“He still has his fourth wall moments where he’s just staring into the camera, like how he would in the comics,” White added.
Here in the southeast part of the province, there is also a bit of pride when it comes to the movies. In the canon of the Marvel Universe, Regina is the home of Wade Wilson, whose alter ego is Deadpool. Not originally in the comic books, the character confirmed his origin in the second Deadpool movie.
For White, that also means something for him.
“It definitely does feel like a big honour to open up a store in Deadpool’s home province.”