The spot begins with Wolverine laying on a couch next to a vase of red roses. But he quickly breaks the sensual mood.
“I can’t do this,” he says. “What the hell am I even doing?”
The set-up marks the beginning of a Deadpool & Wolverine minute-long ad spot that aired during The Bachelorette‘s premiere with Jenn Tran this week, specifically targeted to reach the key broadcast demo of adults 18-49 — majority female — that the ABC reality series courts each week. The message? The Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman superhero tentpole is, actually, a date movie.
Reynolds, dressed in character as Deadpool, pulled out all the Gen-Z phrases to explain to his reluctant Wolverine co-star why this ad matters to Bachelor Nation — “slay, FR, trauma, Jenn-ergy, four-hour workweek, quiet quitting” — before delivering his pitch straight to the camera. “There’s ample amounts of cheeky humor,” he said of the Marvel Studios movie, as the camera zooms in on Jackman’s behind.
As it turns out, Reynolds also watched Monday’s Bachelorette premiere of season 21. He took to Threads to share his thoughts.
“Everyone seemed to like the Deadpool–Bachelorette spot last night, but can we talk about the episode?” he wrote. “Thought Jenn made some strong choices, except for sending my countryman Brendan packing. Marcus is easy on the eyes, Grant was a little much and the day trading thing, but I get it. Two Sams will get confusing so slightly leaning towards Sam N. Jenn’s mom might have been the highlight and Melbourne, Australia, felt like a Hugh shout out so bit of a lowlight there. Overall, great start.”
ABC’s official Bachelorette account then replied: “Here for the discourse.”
Deadpool & Wolverine, which hits theaters July 26, sees Wolverine (Jackman) recovering from his injuries when he crosses paths with the loudmouth Deadpool (Reynolds). They team up to defeat a common enemy.
The duo, who have been friends since they worked together on 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, kicked off the press tour for their R-rated superhero film (a first-ever for Marvel parent company Disney) last week with their first stop in Shanghai, China.
The third outing in the hit superhero franchise that’s the brainchild of star Reynolds is directed by Shawn Levy and tracking to open to at least $160 million to $165 million domestically over its opening weekend, which would be the best start of the year to date, as well as the biggest launch ever for an R-rated title.
