Surprise Deadpool Christmas movie is set for a December release date

Get ready to deck the halls with blood and bullets, because The Deadpool Before Christmas is coming to theaters this December.

There was no question of whether another movie in the Deadpool universe would get made, the only question was of when. Deadpool 2 hit theaters on May 18 of this year and grossed a total of $318.5 million in the United States, $734.2 million worldwide. More compacted than the first one, the movie set up a number of possible spin-offs like X-Force, Domino, and Cable, but news of a third Deadpool movie stayed scarce. Ryan Reynolds then went around and started saying that the possibility of a third Deadpool wasn’t likely.

This news of a Christmas Deadpool came out last week when Fox shifted around their release schedule and changed the dates of some of their upcoming films. One was Robert Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel, which was supposed to hit theaters this December, but instead, in its place, Fox will debut a surprise Deadpool movie, that isn’t a direct sequel but reportedly a PG-13 cut of Deadpool 2.

Releasing the different cuts of movies is all the rage now, especially since the alleged “Snyder Cut” struck DC fans in the heart, and now Deadpool is getting on that gravy train. An edit change can completely change a movie, change the tone, story, atmosphere, and it looks like that’s what’s going to happen with this edit. Titled, The Deadpool Before Christmas (though this hasn’t been directly confirmed by Fox yet), is said to not be the same story as Deadpool 2 and will be a toned down version rated PG-13 instead of the usual R.

The title reveal came from BBC’s Lizo Mzimba who claims that he exclusively learned of the upcoming film’s title, though where he learned of the update hasn’t been said.

"“A tiny exclusive,” Mzimba wrote in a tweet, “Have heard the planned title for the Christmas Deadpool movie is The Deadpool Before Christmas.”"

The apparent title is an obvious nod to Tim Burton’s film, The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is just too perfect.

More from Marvel Movies

• The ladies of Madame Web and their marvelous powers
• The Marvels movie review: Absurdist masterpiece or serious let-down?
• The Marvels closes out 2023 for Marvel as fans await Deadpool’s MCU debut
• The Marvels is likely to stream on Disney+ in early 2024
• The Marvels cast: Which Marvel stars return in the new movie?

In response to the news, Ryan Reynolds shared a picture that might look familiar to The Princess Bride fans, that shows the masked anti-hero wearing a Santa hat reading a story to Fred Savage. It’s an image copied from Rob Reiner’s film where Savage played a bed ridden boy being read a story by his grandfather.

This image means something, but it’s hard to say. Whether the film is Wade Wilson reading Fred Savage a story or the picture is just a clever way to introduce Savage’s character in the film, who knows.

In the film’s credits, Savage is listed only as “The Grandson,” so it’s possible he’ll play the same character he played in The Princess Bride, a sick boy who whined about kissing every chance he got, or he’ll be a narrator.

This new version of Deadpool will be less violent and more child friendly, even though I saw plenty of kids watching when I went to see both films in the theaters, and I’m not talking pre-teens, I mean kids ages six to eight were watching Wade Wilson have sex with Vanessa and blow people’s heads off. I don’t think making it “kid friendly” is necessary, and I’m sure it’ll be as violent as ever, just without the F-Bombs dropping, but PG-13-ing itself to become a Christmas movie and name it after one of the best Halloween/Christmas non-Christmas movies is exactly the kind of weird meta thing I expect from this franchise.

The Deadpool Before Christmas will hit theaters on December 21.