Deadpool Fans Loved a Surprise DEADPOOL Screening, But Will the General Audience? Does That Even Matter?

Editorial: Yesterday, in New York and Los Angeles, at a DEADPOOL special preview event, the crowd was surprised to a full screening of the entire (per Fox reps unfinished edit) of the movie. This is the first time the film has been shown publicly and to say that online and social media reactions were positive is an understatement. The Deadpool fans in attendance absolutely loved it.

I'm a Deadpool fan, and quite a big fan who has read nearly every one of his comics released, so don't think I have any agenda against the movie because I'm very, very excited for it. Plus, don't forget that when the test footage leaked I was the first to exclusively interview Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld the day after the leak. And it was very hard to contain my excitement for that exclusive when Mr. Liefeld agreed to do it because I am a such a big fan of the characters he's created for Marvel.

Anyway, Deadpool's popularity is as high as its ever been since he first appeared in New Mutants No. 98, in 1991. Marvel will put him on a variant comic book cover and there will be a spike in sales. Marvel continues to publish Deadpool mini-series titles and they keep flying off shelves. Deadpool is right up there with Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and Wolverine when it comes to character popularity in Marvel's comic universe, book sales and merchandise sales.

Today, most websites are reporting on the positive fan reactions on social media from this surprise DEADPOOL screening, but many of them also fail to address the fact that this was a Deadpool event. So the biggest and most hardcore fans were in attendance; not critics and not the general audience who may not be familiar with Deadpool outside of its trailers and TV spots. And nobody is asking the question of if the general audience will like the hyper-violent, foul-mouthed anti-hero.

Deadpool fans who were lucky enough to see the movie yesterday are not the general audience. They are the fans who embrace the character, buy his comics/merch and helped to pressure Fox to green-light the movie after the test footage leaked over a year-and-a-half ago. These are the same fans who will go and see DEADPOOL more than once, too.

I think — and I have read the same on many other sites — that DEADPOOL will help to change the super hero genre so more risqué super hero movies can be developed, produced (possibly as rated R) and released in the future. I also think this summer's SUICIDE SQUAD villain-led movie could do the same for advancing the genre. There hasn't been R rated and darker super hero movies since the days of the Punisher and Blade franchises and having both DEADPOOL and SUICIDE SQUAD releasing this year is a bit of breath of fresh air for the genre. However, will the general audience think the same?

The general audience is the big unknown for DEADPOOL. Fox's attempt to change the super hero genre so studios can be more inclined to produce R rated and risqué super hero genre films is very admirable and hopefully going to work out. So far, according to Deadpool's biggest and most hardcore fans who have already seen it, it seems to be well on its way to being a hit in the box office and moving the genre forward.

Or does it even matter what the general audience thinks? This is a movie made by Deadpool fans for Deadpool fans and not for the general audience. That alone could be more than enough when Deadpool's fans alone could propel the film into blockbuster box office status and a potential sequel.

Are you excited for DEADPOOL? Do you think it'll change the super hero movie genre? Share any comments that you have on these topics below.

DEADPOOL releases on February 12, 2016.

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