Yesterday, the Deadpool 2 marketing campaign reached peak irony, absurdity and, surprisingly, poignancy, with the music video for the song Ashes from the film's soundtrack, performed by the iconic Celine Dion. The soaring and emotional song would be right at home in any romantic drama as would the music video, with the exception of a lithe and dancing Deadpool. We wondered if it could possibly be Ryan Reynolds performing the dancing in the video, and now we know that no, Van Wilder's skills do not extend to interpretive dance. Ryan Reynolds confirmed that he was not the danseur and gave a shoutout to the man who was in his usual hilarious fashion, saying:
Ever wonder, 'How does Ryan Reynolds dance so beautifully? Did he have 8 bones surgically removed from his body in order to move as if a graceful swan had sex with Fred Astaire?' The answer may surprise you. Yes. I did have 8 bones removed from my body. But the dancing was all @yanismarshall. This man is not just a dancer... he's an elite athlete, hero, and all around hilarious person. Follow him on Instagram. Put him in movies. Throw confetti at his feet when you see him. He is a gift to this weary world.
If getting eight bones removed made it easier to dance in high heels, I would think stability would be a problem. As always, it is nigh impossible to tell where Ryan Reynolds ends and Deadpool begins. Never one to miss an opportunity for humor, the actor denies that he was the dancer, thus shattering the illusion while making hilarious sex jokes. Ryan Reynolds also shouts out to the man who made Deadpool look like he would be right at home in Black Swan, Yanis Marshall, a French dancer and choreographer.
While I have no doubt that Ryan Reynolds would have done the dancing and it would have been very cool if he did, the resulting video would have been much different. Even if he can now move with the grace of a swan and the skill of the legendary Astaire, something tells me that Ryan Reynolds' dancing would have changed the tone of the piece. The reason the Ashes video works so well is how it's played straight right up until the very end. Yanis Marshall may be wearing a Deadpool costume, but his dancing is the real deal and fits with the emotion and seriousness of the song and the singer. You can see a couple pictures of the Merc with a Mouth and the Merc with the Moves in Ryan Reynolds' Instagram post below.
I don't know that we'll ever see another marketing campaign quite like Deadpool and Deadpool 2's. With Deadpool 3 being far from a certainty and the looming Disney/Fox deal, this may be a moment in time never to be repeated. I hope that should the deal close and Deadpool ends up belonging to the House of Mouse, Disney recognizes the importance of having a diverse array of superhero brands and puts profit before image on this one, because things like this music video are truly great and different than anything else that's out there. Although there are already some signs that Deadpool could be defanged going forward.
Deadpool 2 continues the massive month of May and is on track for a huge opening weekend when it pirouettes into theaters on May 18. Check out our release schedule for all of the movies releasing this year, and for all the latest on the growing superhero movement in interpretive dance, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.
