The Deadpool 2 trailer that was released today introduces Cable to the franchise, and Deadpool himself pauses the action for a moment to complain about the lack of finished special effects.
“What in the actual ass? Dale! Why are the visual effects not done?” the comic book character asks. “It’s a metal arm! It’s not like we’re trying to remove a mustache!”
Deadpool often breaks the fourth wall to address the audience directly or to show awareness that he’s in a comic book or a movie, but this reference actually a cheap joke about Justice League, and a weird situation involving Henry Cavill’s Superman. This situation may be old hat for those who follow the production of big-budget movies closely, but the reference may sail over the heads of some folks who watched the trailer.
Justice League required extensive reshoots, but Cavill was busy filming the new Mission Impossible movie and Paramount wouldn’t allow him to shave off his mustache. This forced Warner Bros. to remove the mustache in post-production, leading to a ... very special look for Superman in some scenes.
Find someone who looks at you the way Henry Cavill looks with his mustache CGI'd out pic.twitter.com/2sR8VstKPB
— Zach Heltzel (@zachheltzel) November 17, 2017
Yikes.
This is the meta-humor of Deadpool’s Justice League joke, making fun of the production of another superhero movie while being in a superhero movie himself. It’s not exactly a classy piece of humor, but Deadpool was never a very classy character.
Deadpool also made fun of the CGI suit from Ryan Reynold’s Green Lantern movie in the first film as well, so at least he’s non-partisan when it comes to mocking bad special effects.
