Deadpool 2 Deserves More Credit for its "Villain"

I really enjoyed Deadpool 2, and I think it's way more ambitious than the first film. It's got all of the action, humor, and fan service of the first one, but it also packs a good amount of heart and handles world building in a pretty organic way. There are a bunch of fun things to write about when talking about the movie - like the future potential for these characters - but one thing that I haven't seen discussed is the movie's handling of its "villain."

Unlike most comic book movies, Deadpool 2 doesn't have a traditional villain. Instead of being about good people trying to stop a bad person from doing something evil, it's about (mostly) good people trying to stop a good person from turning evil. The villain - the future version of "Firefist" - barely gets any screen time, and the only other blatantly bad people, like the Headmaster and Juggernaut, are clearly not the focus of the story. "Trying to stop a good person" also applies to Cable, of course.

Firefist is overwhelmed with hate and hurt, leading him to seek revenge. Deadpool is flooded with loss and guilt, (eventually) making him search for redemption. This is the perfect kind of story for the Merc with a Mouth. He's not a shining example of what it means to be a hero - he even hated being called a hero in some of his earlier comic book appearances - but it's the kind of story that shows there's much more to the guy and it challenges him emotionally.

Deadpool 2's plot sent the popular anti-hero on a much more intimate story that allowed for both him and the "villain" to grow. It undoubtedly gave a better emotional connection than having Deadpool try to stop someone from blowing up a city, take over the world, or something else along those lines. Look, those kinds of stories can obviously be told well, but I'd take character-driven over plot-driven any day of the week.

While comic book movies try to improve the quality of cinematic villains, Deadpool 2 decided it didn't need to give a conventional villain some of the spotlight. Instead, it focused on a story that is 100% personal for its lead characters, and the movie deserves a bunch of credit for that.

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