What happened to once upon a deadpool

You'd be forgiven if you're a little confused over just what the new movie Once Upon a Deadpool is. Is it a sequel to Deadpool 2, that just came out earlier this year? Or is it simply a new cut of Deadpool 2 that's been edited to make it PG-13? And if that's the case, then why is it getting a theatrical release? And what does that have to do with Christmas? And how did Fred Savage get wrapped up in all this? There are a lot of questions surrounding how Once Upon a Deadpool is different from Deadpool 2, so here are the answers you seek.

At first glance, Once Upon a Deadpool, which comes out on Dec. 12, appears to be a toned down version of Deadpool 2 — and that's mostly what it is. The movie has been edited and recut to tell the same basic story, but in a way that is more palatable for family viewing and without the swearing, violence, and nudity that are found throughout the film's R-rated version. The reason for doing this was twofold: First, it allows younger people who are fans of Deadpool to see a version of Deadpool 2 in theaters, which allows for more merchandising opportunities. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly for studio Fox, the edited version may finally open the film up to a release in China's lucrative — but censored — market, according to Deadline. But it's not all a cynical cash grab; there's also some holiday cheer behind the decision, as $1 of every one of the film's tickets sold will be donated to the charity F*ck Cancer, at star Ryan Reynolds' request.

As stated previously, the new movie pretty much tells the same story as Deadpool 2, but it's not exactly the same. The new version features 20 minutes of completely new footage, and since Deadpool 2 is a two hour movie, that means that about one-sixth of Once Upon a Deadpool hasn't been seen before. That new footage comes mostly via the film's framing device, which is borrowed from the classic 1980s comedy The Princess Bride. In that film, a grandfather (Peter Falk) reads a story to his sick grandson (Fred Savage), but leaves out the inappropriate parts. In Once Upon a Deadpool, it's Deadpool who's reading the story of Deadpool 2 while editing out the inappropriate parts — though he's still reading it to a now adult Fred Savage, whom he has kidnapped, tied up, and placed in a carbon copy of the bedroom from The Princess Bride.

That's pretty much all you need to know about Once Upon a Deadpool. It's a PG-13 version of Deadpool 2 told using the framing device from The Princess Bride and featuring 20 minutes of new footage. Oh, and then there's the whole Christmas angle. Basically, it looks like the film is set around Christmastime, as there are some makeshift Christmas decorations around the bedroom they're in, which makes sense given its Christmas release. Outside of that, though, and maybe a few Christmas jokes, don't expect an outright holiday movie since this film is still mostly Deadpool 2 — just a version that's appropriate for both Santa and his elves.

The following post contains SPOILERS for Once Upon a Deadpool. I’m not sure why you would want a post that explains the differences between Deadpool 2 and Once Upon a Deadpool without spoilers, but I’m not here to judge your life choices.

There may not be a more twisted joke in all of Once Upon a Deadpool than its title, since Fox already sold the audience this movie once. Despite the new name, Once Upon a Deadpool is little more than a watered-down version of Deadpool 2 with a couple clever wraparound segments featuring Ryan Reynolds and Fred Savage on a set lovingly recreated from the wraparound segments in The Princess Bride. Even by Deadpool standards, this is very meta stuff.

The Fred Savage scenes are the only significant addition Once Upon a Deadpool makes to Deadpool 2. For unexplained reasons, Deadpool (Reynolds) has kidnapped (or, as Deadpool likes to say, provided “unsolicited location enhancement” to) Savage and is forcing him to listen to a reading of the “King James Edition” of Deadpool 2. When we get a peak at the interior pages, they’re filled with crude crayon drawings.

Reynolds and Savage are funny together, and they make a fair number of appearances — I counted a dozen different brief scenes, most of which poke fun at Deadpool 2 plot holes or address criticism of the movie from last spring, including one where Fred Savage explains to Deadpool the concept of “fridging” female characters in superhero comics. (’Pool doesn’t seem to get it.)

Otherwise, all the major changes to Deadpool 2 are in the form of trims made to secure a PG-13 rating. The theatrical Deadpool 2 was a fairly hard R, with a lot of foul language and intense violence. Both get cut down significantly here. The former isn’t that big of a deal — it’s easy to redub the dialogue of a character who wears a mask over his entire face, and Reynolds actually turns bleeping the remaining profanity into a solid running gag. The latter is more of an issue; sapping the blood and bullets really hurts the action scenes. Not because I’m a bloodthirsty monster who craves graphic displays of death, but because director David Leitch put a lot of care into his action choreography, and removing most of the explicit imagery turns what’s left into a choppy, hard-to-follow mess.

The single best part of Deadpool 2 — the formation of X-Force and their hilariously disastrous first mission — is absolutely gutted by these changes. And some of the gnarliest and most creative beats don’t work at all now — if you missed the original cut of Deadpool 2, I’m not sure you’ll even make sense of the part where Deadpool commandeers a jeep by letting a bad guy shoot him in the hand. All the key visual information is gone. At times like that, Once Upon a Deadpool plays like a gussied-up airplane cut.

The only other change of note comes after the end credits. After the post-credits scene from the theatrical Deadpool 2 (Wade Wilson travels back in time and kills the version of himself that appears in X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and two more brief clips with Fred Savage that sort of almost kind of tie up his storyline, there’s a new tribute to Stan Lee. First, there are a couple of alternate takes and lines from his cameo in the “No Good Deed” short. (The best is “Hey, look! It’s Ryan Gosling!”) That’s followed by a montage of still photos of Stan from throughout his career, and an interview where he discusses his legacy and how he wants to be remembered. It’s an affectionate farewell to Marvel’s beloved figurehead, if a slightly odd one given that Stan Lee had nothing to do with the creation of Deadpool.

Once Upon a Deadpool isn’t necessarily bad — it’s just not necessary. And it’s certainly not enough of an improvement over the theatrical cut — or an improvement at all over the theatrical cut— to justify paying $15 to see it on a big screen. (It’s probably worth noting here that if you do go to see Once Upon a Deadpool, one dollar of every ticket will be donated to cancer research, so at least some of the proceeds are going to a good cause.) It’s kind of instructive as a film nerd to be able to compare the two cuts and see what you can and can’t get away with in a PG-13 movie. (Deadpool full frontal is a no-no, but a song with a chorus chanting “Holy s— balls” over and over is apparently fine.) Beyond that, there’s not much to it. Just because they called it Once Upon a Deadpool doesn’t mean it’s not an obvious double dip.

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A new Deadpool movie called Once Upon A Deadpool just came out. Actually, it's not completely new, but a reedited PG-13 version of Deadpool 2 with some hilarious Fred Savage scenes that riff on The Princess Bride thrown in. (And if you've got more questions about it, we've got answers.) 

Deadpool 2 was rated R when it came out in June 2018. And along with a new version of the movie come a few new -- and some re-edited -- post-credits scenes. The first scene appears at the mid-credits mark, while the other new ones take place after the credits have rolled.

Check out the original Deadpool 2 after-credits scenes. While they all appear in Once Upon A Deadpool, most are heavily edited for gore and honestly aren't quite as funny now. The new scenes from the Super Duper version of Deadpool 2 don't appear here. 

Fred Savage intro

What happens: Before the actual post-credits scenes start, Fred Savage and Deadpool talk about their love of after-credits scenes. Savage remarks that he loves them because it "feels so private," since it's just you in the theater alone after everyone else has left. Giddily adding "You know something!" "You stayed." Then the film goes into the original after-credits scenes, starting with Negasonic Teenage Warhead fixing Cable's time travel device.

Fred Savage tries to walk

What happens: After all the credits have run, we go back to the Princess Bride bedroom. Deadpool finally cuts Fred Savage loose after holding him captive for three days to tell him the story of Deadpool 2. Since Fred had his legs duct taped down, he has a bit of trouble walking once up. Deadpool helps him through the bedroom door as the camera pulls back to reveal the movie crew.

Stan Lee outtakes and tribute

What happens: One of the first teasers for Deadpool 2 had a Stan Lee cameo that wasn't in the original theatrical release or this version of the movie. We see some charming outtakes from the teaser of Stan Lee trying different versions of the line that eventually made the first version, like "Wow it's Ryan Gosling!" and "Isn't your suit supposed to be green?"

We then go into a short Lee tribute as he voices over pictures and video of himself talking about how great it is that the characters he created are so popular right now. "We wrote some good stories," he muses to the camera. It's a touching addition presented without a hint of irony.

To be sure, Lee didn't create Deadpool -- Rob Liefeld did -- but he did create the X-Men, whom Deadpool was eventually birthed from. (There's also a tribute to Lee in the new Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse film out this week.)

Deadpool 2's post-credit(s) scenes, explained: Each one is wonderful. Spoilers ahead.

Once Upon a Deadpool proves even rereleases are fun: Like a shiny new Collector's Edition.