As if Deadpool wasn't enough of a smart-assed shot to the arm of superhero films, there was one more step that could have sent the whole damned enterprise over the top. It turns out that the film-makers behind this year's runaway box office smash wanted to do something rather unique with their end credits sequence: they wanted to make their own Honest Trailer.
The Art of the Title caught up with Deadpool director Tim Miller and asked him about the other end credits sequence ideas that eventually lead to the mischieviously hand drawn credits. Miller confirmed that those credits weren't the first idea he and his team had come up with, as the idea to ape the infamous fixture of the internet was an idea proposed by Miller's wife, Jennifer, as well as his creative director, Norn Johnson. Miller explained his thought process as follows:
[Jennifer Miller and Norn Johnson] pitched doing our own version of the Honest Trailers, where the guys go in and tell you everything that was wrong with the movie. I loved that idea! We actually wanted to get the guy who does them to do an Honest Trailers version of Deadpool and run it during the titles. I can’t wait until they do one! [laughs]
To end Deadpool with its own Honest Trailer would have been the greatest example of meta-humor in a film already crammed full of inside jokes. Listening to the Honest Trailers narrator rip apart the film's logic and reasoning in his mockingly serious tone of voice would have been a cherry on top of the hot fudge sundae that was Deadpool. Though at the same time, ending the film on too fine a satirical point also sounds like it could have been complete overkill if it had been allowed to happen. Sure, the credits that eventually found their way into the film were in a similar vein to that of an Honest Trailer's commentary, but the significant difference between what we got and what we almost had is all in the execution.
Seeing as Deadpool is our smart-assed guide through the film's journey of revenge and romance, it's only fitting that the film end with a series of his artwork and a couple of humorous remarks about those involved with the film. Still, the more we think about it, the film did open with an opening credits roll that invoked the Honest Trailer treatment, changing the names of those involved into lovingly parodied one-liners. So maybe the rejection of the closing credits bringing the whole concept full circle was, indeed, a missed opportunity.
Well, all hope is not lost, as the good folks at Screen Junkies are keen on the idea of an official sounding Honest Trailer to Deadpool's antics. In fact, they're taking to the internet in hopes that Ryan Reynolds himself will provide the voice-over to their send up of the Merc with the Mouth's first adventure. Whether this labor of love will pan out or not is up to the man himself, but as fans of Reynolds' work, we seriously hope this is something we'll be reporting on in the near future.
Deadpool should hit the home video market sometime this summer, and as soon as we have an exact date, you'll be the first to know.
