Stan Lee didn’t create Deadpool, but his legacy is felt all throughout the House of Ideas. So it comes as no surprise that the new PG-13 Christmas cut of Deadpool 2, titled Once Upon a Deadpool for a limited December 12-24 engagement, features a new post-credits scene that honors the late Stan Lee.
Spoiler warning, I guess? I mean, this movie came out back in May and you all saw it. But whatever. Here’s your spoiler warning.
Aside from a new framing device featuring Fred Savage spoofing his role in 1987’s The Princess Bride, the new Once Upon a Deadpool is virtually identical to the R-rated summer hit Deadpool 2 but with tamer PG-13 friendly jokes. The post-credits of Once Upon a Deadpool are also the same — Deadpool still travels through time, he still murders his X-Men Origins incarnation, and he still murders Ryan Reynolds for doing Green Lantern. No Baby Hitler, though.
But in the wake of Stan Lee’s passing in November, the filmmakers added an extra scene that pays tribute to Lee. These scenes are just pick-up shots of Lee trying out additional gags (such as questioning why Ryan Reynolds’ costume isn’t green). There is then a slideshow of archival photographs of Lee throughout the years, set to the film’s touching piano rendition of A-ha’s “Take On Me,” and Lee musing on his legacy in a sit-down interview.
“I don’t think about it that much, you know? When I’m gone, I really don’t care,” Lee says. “It doesn’t do you any good when you’re gone.”
Stan Lee’s signature then appears on the screen, and underneath it, “1923 - 2018,” followed by “Excelsior!” (In Latin, “Higher!”)
No, I’m not crying. You’re crying.
This isn’t the only Marvel film this month that will have a Stan Lee tribute. You can expect something else entirely with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which hits theaters on December 14. It remains to be seen what Marvel Studios will do when Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home arrive in theaters next year.
Once Upon a Deadpool Is in theaters now.
