It didn’t take long for Deadpool & Wolverine to become the #1 movie in the world, breaking multiple box office records and giving the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) a much-needed boost. In just over 24 hours, the film grossed nearly $100 million domestically, hit a 97% audience score at Rotten Tomatoes, and pushed the MCU’s total box office gross past $30 billion. In response, stars Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds celebrated rather fittingly, recreating a classic Marvel meme.

In a gesture befitting the film’s snarky, fourth wall-breaking humor, Hugh Jackman recreated a classic meme featuring an animated Wolverine caressing a picture frame of something he loves. In a post to his social media accounts, Jackman was decked out in his yellow-and-blue, comic-accurate costume, and struck a similar pose to the meme. This time, however, the picture he is holding reads, “#1 Movie in the World,” signifying the film’s box office success. “Wolverine and Deadpool is the #1 movie in the world. Thank you ALL,” Jackman said in the post, seemingly switching the character names in the title on purpose…

For those not entrenched in internet culture, the original meme is known as the “Wolverine Crush” meme, and is taken from the first-season episode of X-Men: The Animated Series. In the original, Wolverine is caressing a picture of Jean Grey, who is dating Cyclops, resulting in his sad state of longing. Around 2011, some random genius photoshopped a different picture into the frame Wolverine is looking at, and a meme was born.

Not to be outdone, Ryan Reynolds then posted his own version of the meme to social media, piggybacking off of Jackman’s post with a fun twist. “I miss Hugh already,” the post said, with Reynolds in costume caressing a framed image of Jackman’s post and thus creating a meme within a meme.

The pair have reason to celebrate. According to numbers provided by Box Office Mojo, the film had a record-breaking opening weekend. By Sunday evening, Deadpool & Wolverine had grossed an estimated $205 million domestically and over $438 million worldwide, breaking the record for the biggest opening weekend ever for a July film and marking the biggest opening weekend for an R-rated film ever. It also had the third-biggest opening weekend ever for a summer film, and the sixth-biggest opening day of all time. If that were not already enough, it also now holds the record for the biggest opening weekend for any film this year.

Will Deadpool & Wolverine Become the Biggest Marvel Movie of All Time?

To put the success of Deadpool & Wolverine into perspective, one needs only to compare it to other recent theatrical releases from the MCU. The film made more money in its first day than last year’s The Marvels with Brie Larson made in its entire theatrical run. With $205 million in ticket sales by the end of its first weekend, it had out-earned the entire box office haul of Eternals (2021, $164 million) and Black Widow (2021, $183 million).

Related Here Are the Biggest and Most Surprising Easter Eggs in Deadpool & Wolverine Deadpool & Wolverine features plenty of references and callbacks to not just Marvel Comics, but non-MCU Marvel films.

Despite the overwhelming enthusiasm and positive buzz for Deadpool & Wolverine, becoming the biggest Marvel film of all time will be difficult. Avengers: Endgame earned $858 million domestically, but that film has a big advantage: a PG-13 rating. Deadpool’s R-rating will limit many children from seeing it, as parents will wait for Disney+ to stream it, where they can better monitor the content. Regardless, the film’s success so far is a win for Disney and the Marvel franchise, no matter the final numbers.

Deadpool & Wolverine
is now playing in theaters.

Deadpool & Wolverine 3.5/5 A follow-up to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 films starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox.Release Date July 26, 2024