Slow clap for the maximum effort that went into this trolling.
Avengers: Endgame just revealed its official title yesterday, along with the first trailer, and someone out there wasted no time. AvengersEndgame.com and AvengersEndgameMovie.com both currently redirect to ... the 20th Century Fox movies website for Once Upon a Deadpool.
How beautiful is that?
Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds is supposedly not behind this, although it is definitely his style. Maybe another Deadpool filmmaker is involved, or perhaps just a big fan. There's definitely an intriguing story here. A Twitter user called @AGuyInChair tweeted this yesterday, a few hours after the first Endgame trailer dropped:
The Hollywood Reporter reached out to the "Guy" via DMs. The user said he knew Endgame would be the Avengers 4 title back in April. He wouldn't reveal his identity, but said he was not Ryan Reynolds. He also said Disney had not been in touch at that point about getting the domain name.
It looks like whoever did this is just asking for tickets to the Avengers: Endgame premiere in 2019. Maybe that's when he will reveal his identity -- and maybe take Ryan "Deadpool" Reynolds as his date?
Once Upon a Deadpool is in theaters December 12. It's not clear what's going to happen to the Endgame URL after that date. Will it redirect elsewhere?
At this point, Deadpool isn't quite in the Marvel Cinematic Universe family with the Avengers, but he's on his way. Disney bought 21st Century Fox assets, including the rights to Marvel characters like Deadpool and the X-Men.
Once Upon a Deadpool is a PG-13 version of the R-rated Deadpool 2. It's kind of a step toward the PG/PG-13 world of Disney's Marvel and Lucasfilm brands. However, Disney CEO Bob Iger left the door open for a Marvel-R brand for something like Deadpool.
It does seem like Ryan Reynolds -- excuse me, new Grammy nominee Ryan Reynolds -- would at least approve of this domain trolling, even if he's not behind it. Here's hoping either Hugh Jackman is involved as part of his own elaborate trolling of Reynolds, or it's Blake Lively taking them all down.
Once Upon a Deadpool opens in theaters this coming Wednesday, December 12. Avengers: Endgame was meant to be released on May 3, 2019, but it just got moved to April 26, 2019. And maybe someday it will get its website name back.
Thankfully, there is no Endgame for movie releases. Here's what else is coming to theaters in the rest of 2018 and the looooong list of amazing titles ahead in 2019.
