Deadpool & Wolverine's Sports Impact in 2024

Everybody is buzzing about how Deadpool & Wolverine has become one of the best movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at this point. It cannot be denied that this film has really caught a lot of movie-goers, common film spectators, and even nerdy Marvel fans off guard with the way the film unfolded. But did you know that Deadpool and Wolverine itself is the biggest sports advertisement of 2024?

How Successful Deadpool & Wolverine Has Been?

As of August 11th, Deadpool & Wolverine has grossed a total of $1.029 billion worldwide, with Fandango even claiming that the film has had the biggest pre-ticket sales of 2024. At the same time, it was also the best for the franchise and the top record fro any R-rated film on the site. It is also worth noting that this was the first R-rated film of the MCU, which speaks volumes as to how high the reception was up to this very moment.

Deadpool & Wolverine has been a box office hit image

No R-rated film has ever managed to come up with a $200 million opener at a domestic level. It was a combination of one of the X-Men franchise’s iconic characters in Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, and Ryan Reynolds’ own fourth-wall breaker Deadpool, and it was definitely a blast for the MCU considering the fact that the film franchise was having a downturn after Jonathan Majors had to be removed due to legal issues, effectively closing the Multiverse Saga and pushing the cinematic universe to a different path.

Deadpool & Wolverine have managed to catapult the MCU to a whole different level, but it is also worth noting that it has significantly played a huge role in revitalizing the reputation of Marvel to be able to come up with a promising film after a string of poor performing films and TV series. At this point, one can even say that Deadpool & Wolverine is likely to end up as one of the best films of 2024.

What Makes Deadpool & Wolverine a Sports Advertisement?

So let’s move to the big question: What makes Deadpool & Wolverine a sports advertisement? Well, it is worth noting that there are multiple brands that collaborated with the Marvel film at the height of its release. If you haven’t seen them, it is easy to spot red and yellow colors on various ads from Heinz, Jack in the Box, Heineken, DiGorno, The Bachelorette, and Old Spice all teamed up with the Marvel film.

But here’s the thing: It served as a sports advertisement for Wrexham AFC, a soccer team in Football League One. But here’s how Deadpool & Wolverine advertised the team in different ways:

Ryan Reynolds Owns Wrexham AFC

Ryan Reynolds is a co-owner of Wrexham AFC image

In case you didn’t know, Ryan Reynolds is a co-owner of Wrexham AFC, a team that currently sits fourth in the EFL League One. He shares ownership with Rob McElhenney, also an American actor. Reynolds, who plays the titular Deadpool in the film, has also been quite on the prowl in promoting his team in any means possible. It can even be remembered that Hugh Jackman, who portrayed Wolverine, visited Wrexham games and was even included in the documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham” (Season 3, episode 1). Reynolds is one of the faces of the club, and his character Deadpool is even gimmicked as one of the mascots of the team. That being said, having the club’s owner as a titular character of a record-breaking film for 2024 is quite a considerable look as to how Wrexham is advertised indirectly.

“Welshpool” is a Wrexham Player

Spoiler Alert: In case you missed it, there are a lot of Deadpool variants in the film, which includes Reynolds’ wife Blake Lively as Ladypool. There are plenty of variants of the titular character, such as Cowboypool, Deadpool 2099, Zenpool, Canadapool, Watari, Richpool, and many other different iterations of Deadpool. However, You could not have missed the Deadpool variant that has the flag of Wales on it – which is arguably “Welshpool”. Reynolds had it added to pay homage to his ownership of Wrexham AFC. If you are not impressed, Welshpool was played by no other than Wrexham’s Paul Mullin, the club’s leading scorer and one of the known players of the club.

Striker Paul Mullin played "Welshpool" in the film image

Few Wrexham Icons Had a Cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine’

Rob McElhenney had a cameo role in the film image

People in the theaters were definitely filled with laughter as they saw a lot of surprising cameos from a lot of well-known characters throughout the Marvel Universe. However, it is worth noting that there are also multiple appearances that may have slipped past your eye during the film. In the bar scene, Wrexham player Ollie Palmer was present as a bar patron, which should definitely go unnoticed for those viewers who knew nothing about Wrexham as a whole. In addition, Reynolds’ co-chairman of Wrexham, Rob McElhenney, was one of the TVA soldiers in the opening sequence of the film. This was already hinted at in Welcome to Wrexham’s season 3, episode 5, where much of the scenes were shot in Reynolds’ trailer during filming.

How did Deadpool & Wolverine help Advertise Wrexham AFC?

Reynolds has teamed up with McElhenney to manage the club as owners back in 2020. So far, they have managed to put the city and the club back on the world map at the very least. It is also safe to say that the Deadpool actor has helped the club to secure back-to-back league promotions in its 159-year history.

If you are not impressed, Wrexham AFC’s success over the years has been quite a story to remember so far. It has led to the biggest home attendance for the team ever since the season began – and it is not a coincidence that they now boast the highest home attendance in club history.

Rank	Season	League	Average Attendance
1	2024-25	League One	13,214
2	1977-78	Division Three	12,272
3	1947-48	Division Three	11,168
4	1961-62	Division Four	10,861
5	1956-57	Division Three	10,731
6	1978-79	Division Two	10,711
7	1962-63	Division Three	10,696
8	2023-24	League Two	10,631
9	1952-53	Division Three	10,009
10	1948-49	Division Three	9,751

*source: Wrexham AFC Archive, accessed August 20, 2024

Ever since Deadpool & Wolverine went in theaters, Wrexham’s attendance at home games has spiked to a whole new level. In the 2023-24 season alone, Wrexham has tallied an average home attendance of 10,631 fans per game. After the showing of Deadpool & Wolverine, Wrexham’s home games in the 2024-25 season have seen a +2,583 increase in fan average so far, and this season has just barely begun.

Considering how well Wrexham has enjoyed its success in English Football, Deadpool & Wolverine has no doubt played a massive role in adding more to its prominence in the online world. Of course, everyone’s gonna be wondering about that Deadpool variant that has a Welsh flag in its chest heading into the climax of the film.

Deadpool & Wolverine has definitely been a success for Wrexham AFC in a way image

While it may just be an indirect advertisement, it cannot be denied that Deadpool & Wolverine had a significant impact to Wrexham AFC’s popularity in the online scene. According to a report from BBC, there was indeed a 36% spike in people looking up properties in the north Wales city. While that may not be considered as a huge boost at all, it cannot be denied that it has brought more audiences closer to Wrexham – with the club being one of its anchors to begin with.

Hit the Theaters and See Wrexham References for Yourself

Of course, Deadpool & Wolverine has been claimed to be the best out of all Deadpool films so far, and if you are curious as to how the film managed to set up promising references to the rising club in League One co-owned by Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds. If you haven’t seen the film, now is the time to allure yourself with its impressive musical scoring and share some comedic relief about two of Marvel’s biggest characters while catching some soccer references.

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