Deadpool & Wolverine Shows The Power Of The Non-Woke Blockbuster

There's been an obvious trend in Hollywood since the 2016 election to inject political messages into blockbuster movies. Those political messages have generally favored one side of the ideological aisle; the same one that most stars and creative talent align themselves with.

"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is one example; Cassie, the daughter of the Ant-Man character, is an activist who gets arrested for shrinking a police car. While there were many other issues with the film beyond Cassie's character, "Ant-Man" flopped, both in audience reception and box office receipts.

For most of the development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the film studio had avoided most political commentary. And built up a massive fanbase in the process. But the turn towards activism has infected the vast majority of the entertainment industry, with generally disastrous results. If "Deadpool & Wolverine" is any indication though, Hollywood may finally be learning its lesson.

The film, while undeniably flawed, not only avoids "woke" political posturing, it pokes fun at it. The Deadpool character makes a joke about being canceled by the "woke mob." There are cracks about "Gen-Z" and their insufferable ideologies. There's no political lectures, only jokes about Marvel's creative decline. 

Relatedly, "Deadpool & Wolverine" just became the highest-grossing "R" rated movie in film history.

NEW YORK - Hugh Jackman, Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds arrive at the premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine on July 22, 2024.  (Photo by NDZ/Star Max/GC Images)

Hollywood Political Activism On Its Way Out?

"Deadpool & Wolverine" has now grossed more than $1.085 billion globally, with nearly $517 million in domestic ticket sales and $569 million internationally. Those astronomical numbers aren't due exclusively to the lack of left-wing political activism in the film, but it sure doesn't hurt.

Audiences want to be entertained, not lectured to, especially in big budget blockbusters. Hollywood will almost certainly never stop pushing its political agenda in smaller movies, because the creative "talent" of today has no other ideas or interests. But if the industry wants to survive, it needs successful summer projects to carry it financially.

There's no one way to guarantee that a movie will be a box office hit; even the latest "Mission: Impossible" release, which had no political messaging, quality directing, a big star, and incredible stunts, wasn't able to overcome the "Barbenheimer" hype.

But there's now years of data showing that audiences have little interest in being preached to in their blockbuster entertainment. "Barbie" was an exception, yes, but the film's marketing cleverly hid its political leanings. And its target demographic would be more receptive to the "men bad, women good" messaging regardless.

"Deadpool & Wolverine" has two likable stars, an established character and franchise, and the novelty factor of seeing the two superheroes team up. It executed its formula well, and its mockery of modern Hollywood and its political activism ensured that moviegoers wary of political lectures would buy a ticket. Which is exactly what they did. There's an obvious lesson for the industry to learn from its success; time will tell if they have.