Lots of spoilers and slightly mature themes ahead (duh).

Like many others, I spent years waiting for “Deadpool” to come out. I watched the leaked footage, all the trailers, and every extra tidbit. I counted the days until it premiered. I went to see it with my cousins and nearly vibrated with excitement in the darkened theatre.

I was not disappointed. In fact, I saw it twice opening weekend and have plans to go a third time. It is dark, hilarious, and well-acted (especially on the part of Ryan Reynolds).

Of course, not everyone had this experience. Some felt that it was not socially subversive enough. I disagree.

Yes, the character of Deadpool offers many wonderful opportunities to not only push the social boundaries of what is appropriate in movies, but also to ignore them completely. However, the studio still had to make the movie a box office success. If the movie is a flop, not only do they make no money, but also no one will see it. This creates a logic problem. After all, how can they make a film that is “vanilla” enough to appeal to a large portion of mainstream audience while staying true to the character of Deadpool?

Considering the fact that most aspects of the movie are mainstream and formulaic, save perhaps Deadpool himself, I believe they are making him more palatable to audiences so that they can allow him to be more “subversive” later on with lesser consequences. As it stands, they have (somewhat) subtlety laid groundwork for future subversity.

First, Deadpool is pansexual (or omnisexual, depending on your definitions of the terms). He likes men, women, and all the other gender shades. Not only is this canonically true, but Ryan Reynolds is also adamant about it and wants Deadpool to have a boyfriend in the future.

However, the glue of the plot of the movie is his mostly heteronormative relationship with Vanessa. Is this a missed opportunity to have a major queer character in a mainstream movie universe? No. I think that it is a device to ease audiences into accepting a queer Deadpool.

Yes, it would be wonderful if Wade were with any (adult) other than a woman. However, it would have been a big risk and would definitely have cost the studio viewership and money. They needed the heteronormative relationship and the formulaic plot of guy gets girl, guy loses girl, guy saves girl, guy gets girl back in order to ease the viewers into eventually accepting Deadpool as the wonderfully not-straight person that he is. In this way, I believe they are testing the waters to see if they can get away with more in the future.

Of course, there is a lot wrong with the fact that non-heterosexuality is something that filmmakers have to work to "get away with," but that is the society we live in. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that most people in Hollywood are not willing to risk their money or their careers to help improve society unless they know that they are likely to be successful.

Fortunately, I think that there is some evidence to suggest that “Deadpool 2” will include an obviously queer Wade Wilson. For example, he pokes sexual humor at men, the most obvious being his reference to handling Wolverine’s “smooth criminals down under.” Of course, lines like this can be read as adolescent joking or queer baiting, but they could also be working to help ease the transition into serious pansexuality. Let’s not forget, after all, that he wears a “Rent” t-shirt and that his cartoon persona is most aroused by Ed Skein. If I am correct, this has the potential to protect “Deadpool 2” from being a box office flop.

Of course, Wade’s sexuality is not the only thing in contention. Some also take exception to Vanessa acting as the “damsel in distress” in the film rather than as Copycat. While she does serve this function, I think she still has a lot of importance.

For instance, she is just as sexual as Wade and is his match in their game of wit and humor. She is also a strong person. When Wade leaves her, she keeps going with her life. Granted, we don't know what exactly she has been doing (hopefully mercenary work if not mutant stuff) but this is still extremely important, as many female characters completely fall apart for long periods of time when their men leave them. While that is certainly true to life for some people, and there is almost always something of a healing process involved, it is not particularly healthy. Thus, she is an important role model.

Not to mention, Vanessa is even less sentimental than Wade, given that she yells profanity at him when she discovers that he is alive (as opposed to swooning) and that her reaction to his disfigurement is something to the effect of “after a readjustment period and several drinks, it is a face I would be happy to sit on.” She is not overly warm and fuzzy and that is different and good.

It is also important that Vanessa receives cunnilingus from Wade. Granted, he interrupts it by putting on plastic vampire teeth, but it is obvious that he is giving her oral sex and that he does so regularly. This is great because generally movies with cunnilingus scenes are given an NC-17 rating, which is enough to kill them. (As opposed to movies with fellatio scenes, which can be rated as low as PG-13). While I would have loved to see Vanessa receive more pleasure from the act, I appreciate that it was there at all. Hopefully it will be a stepping-stone to better cunnilingus in “Deadpool 2” and in other movies.

In conclusion, while "Deadpool" is not a poster-movie for pansexuality, it is "subversive" enough to ease the transition into greater future diversity in sexuality as well as in female characterization. In other words, reserve your final judgement for "Deadpool 2."