The Art of Title Design: Deadpool

By Joseph Naguski

The classic tune “Angel of the Morning” by Juice Newton fills audiences' ears while the timeless Marvel opening flashes on the screen of this title sequence. That is, until viewers are greeted with the gruesome image of a man screaming with a bullet hole in his head, his cigarette airborne and spit flying in multiple directions. Our 2016 review by Cayce Bower gave a glance into the grotesque tone and implementation of 4th-wall breaking elements set by director Tim Miller in the 2016 anti-hero action film Deadpool. This title analysis will take you on an exploration into the outlandish and dark comedy that overtakes the title sequence of the first film in this unconventional “superhero” franchise.

After the audience is delightfully introduced to the man with a bullet going through his forehead, the out of place soundtrack continues and the title sequence meanders through a plethora of spilt coffee flying through the air as credits fade into the screen. These credits aren’t just an ordinary list of actors however, as we are taken into a car the credits “SOME DOUCHEBAG’S FILM” and “STARRING GOD’S PERFECT IDIOT” appear into focus. Then suddenly the film’s universe breaks the 4th wall for the first time, showing an edition of People Magazine with Ryan Reynolds (the actor playing Deadpool) on the cover with the headline “SEXIEST MAN ALIVE”. The screen then continues to wind through a multitude of gore and sarcasm-filled credits with little doses of Easter-eggs for comic book fans thrown into certain spots. Eventually we are finally introduced to our lovely protagonist Deadpool as he has his junk on top of one man’s head, one hand shoving his fingers into the eyes of some goon, and in the other he is giving an insanely powerful wedgie to another goon (who is blasting a sub-machine gun into a blown-up car). The screen then zooms out to a super wide shot revealing the whole ridiculous scenario unfolding in the sequence. A drawing of Deadpool slicing a bad guy’s head off then floats into the screen before quickly zooming into the start of the film.

For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, read the review, or just need a refresher: Deadpool revolves around Wade Wilson, an ex-special forces soldier turned mercenary whose  life takes a dramatic turn when he is diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer, leading to him leave his love so that she does not have to witness his demise. He is approached by someone introducing him to an experimental treatment for the cancer, guiding him to a man named Ajax who is actually performing experiments on people to try to awaken mutant genes inside them. After a multitude of tortuous experiments at an attempt to trigger the genes, Ajax awakens the genes inside Wilson which cures him of his cancer and gives him superhuman abilities including enhanced healing and superhuman strength. However, this comes at the cost of his severe disfigurement. With the help of some others he searches Ajax who has kidnapped his love and evidently has a cure for his disfigurement.

Title sequences are meant to give the audience a taste of what is yet to come. Deadpool does this so well is because the wacky events of the title sequence were actually created before the actual scenes for the film. This way when the actual events occurred the title sequence would not have to be changed for every little detail. The scene shown within the sequence is a precursor to a later scene in the film which gives the audience the details as to why the crazy highway scene occurred in the first place.

A shot from the highway scene that the title sequence foreshadows

Comedy is not something that is easy to get right the first time. Comedic timing was a big part of making this title sequence so successful to gearing up audiences for the film’s story. Director Tim Miller removed many of the gags originally used because the jokes become cluttered when presented so closely to each other, leaving audiences spending more time trying to get the jokes than actually enjoying them. The writers of Deadpool are the same as in the 2009 film Zombieland, which features a similarly grotesque title sequence. In Deadpool, the use of generic and comedic title credits instead of the staff’s actual names adds on to the uniqueness of its quirky persona. This was actually not what was originally intended for the film’s opening sequence, but everyone loved it so much they decided to keep the generic credits. As for Easter Eggs placed into the title sequence, there are a couple which are spotted. The coffee cup that has Rob L. on it is a nod to Deadpool comic book artist and co-creator Robert Liefeld. Another one is the green card showing Ryan Reynolds rocking spandex and a superhero mask, and lastly the obvious magazine displaying the actor on the cover.

Juice Newton’s “Angel in the Morning” is certainly a perfect fit to be the contrasting piece to the mayhem that fills the title sequence. Director Tim Miller said in an interview with Will Perkins from the website www.artofthetitle.com “I think everybody gets a smile at the contrast of hardcore thugs off to commit murder and mayhem listening to Juice Newton. It gives them a sensitive side!” (Tim Miller)

The title sequence for Deadpool was designed by Blur Studio, who has made the title sequence for the Netflix series Mindhunter and the film The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo which I have previously wrote an article on. Deadpool’s sequence is a super-meta anomaly with beautifully crafted visual effects backing up the insanity of the events that occur later in the film. The title sequence was mapped out by Blur using techniques they have developed through their extensive work in video game cinematics and created using 3ds Max. 3ds Max is a professional computer graphics software designed for making 3D animations, models, games and images. This along with some other programs such as V-Ray and NUKE to help form the compelling visuals for the sequence.

Deadpool takes everything you would expect from a superhero film and creates a super-meta version of that with amplified comedy fulfilled through the eccentric use of over the top violence, language, and sexual humor. Its title sequence takes these things and fits them all into a nice two minute warm up for the absurdity audiences are about to embark on. 

Work Cited
Perkins, Will. “Deadpool .” Art of the Title, 22 Mar. 2016, www.artofthetitle.com/title/deadpool/.