SPOILER WARNING: Mild spoilers for a joke in Deadpool 2 in case you haven't seen the movie yet.
Part of the charm of the Deadpool franchise is that it can make fun of all the other superhero movies that are out there. No one is safe from the criticism of Deadpool, who in his latest film makes fun of the MCU, the DCEU, and --especially -- the X-Men. With regards to the DCEU, Deadpool 2 makes two notable jokes at the cinematic universe's expense, one of which is about the infamous Martha moment from Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Some DC fans have not been a fan of people making fun of this moment in the past and Ryan Reynolds recently addressed why they made the joke.
The 'Martha' gag, it's a perfectly Deadpool moment. I think Deadpool is willing to break a few eggs to make that omelet.
At the beginning of Deadpool 2, Deadpool arrives late for a date with Vanessa and comes up with a series of excuses for why he was late. One of the excuses that he gives is that he was busy "fighting a caped badass, only to discover that his mom was named Martha too." This is a pretty clear reference to Batman V Superman, which featured a moment in which Batman decides not to kill Superman after learning that both their mothers are named Martha. It's an alright joke, but some DC fans have been vocal in the past about disliking (to put it generously) when people make fun of the Martha moment.
While there doesn't seem to be any current controversy around the Martha joke in Deadpool 2, Ryan Reynolds was asked if he was ready to "face the wrath of DC fans" on The Empire Film Podcast due to the strong reaction some fans had to criticism of Batman V Superman at the time of release. In the host of the podcasts experience, DC fans don't like Martha jokes. So, has time softened the online Martha debate? As far as Reynolds is concerned, the joke is pretty on brand for Deadpool, so it's not like they went out of their way to poke fun at this one movie. Plus, Deadpool 2 pokes fun at a lot of other superhero movies, so the movie isn't exclusively piling on to DC movies.
The Deadpool 2 joke probably isn't worth getting worked up over and I would say enough time has passed that controversy around the Martha of it all has cooled down significantly since the movie was released.
If you'd like to listen to the joke yourself, Deadpool 2 is still in theaters right now. For more summer movies, be sure to visit of must-see summer movie list.
