T
he world fell in love with Deadpool. The "Merc With the Mouth" got the honor of being the first major superhero to get an R-rated release (other than the two flop Punisher movies), not only letting Ryan Reynolds’ hilariously obscene mouth run wild, but also letting the bullets fly with lots of exaggerated on-screen gunfights. The movie barreled through a bunch of box office records and a sequel was almost immediately inevitable. Not bad for a movie that Reynolds personally had to campaign to get made, complete with a short fan film as a proof of concept. For More Guns of Deadpool, click here
But, there should have been more--guns that is.
The studio didn't have too much faith in an R-rated movie about one of Marvel's more grown-up heroes, so they weren't exactly pouring money into the production. In fact, a number of big, gun-heavy action sequences that were scripted didn't actually make it in front of the camera.
There’s even a fourth-wall-breaking jab (one of many) at the production company in the film that hints at budget problems: When Deadpool knocks on the familiar door of Professor Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters, he says to Colossus, “Wow, this is such a big house, but I only ever see the two of you here. It’s like the studio didn’t have enough money for any more X-men…”
What this means for us is a lot of gun battles and action sequences had to be cut. It also means that we only see Deadpool, a character as famous for his arsenal as his insanity, use only his twin Desert Eagles and his katanas.
SPOILERS AHEAD
If you’ve seen the movie, you know that Wade Wilson has a great gear-up sequence in the final act, where he puts every imaginable firearm he can grab into a big Hello Kitty duffel bag…only to leave it in the cab that takes him, Colossus, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead to the big showdown at the end. This was done ‘cause it’s funny, but also because when it came time to film that big shootout, there was no more fundage. But the bad guys got some cool guns!
Let’s start with Mr. Pool’s pistols.
A fitting sidearm for any over-the-topper, Deadpool’s Eagles are chambered in .50 AE as we can see from slow-motion close-ups of shell casings. They’re nothing fancy, just plain black with the top Picatinny rail included on the XIX model. One of them did manage to make it onto the film’s movie poster (which haven't displayed firearms so prominently for quite a while).
Wilson carries the two semi-auto pistols in plastic drop holsters from a pistol belt…which has no ammo pouches.
Deadpool can’t be bothered with remembering to reload (hell, there are chimichangas to eat!). This fact leads to the setup of the first action sequence, in which he realizes he only has the ammo in his pistols and has to take on maybe a dozen guys with machine guns.
We get a sweet slow-mo ammo-counter sequence, where we tick off the 12 rounds Wade says he has in his pistols (no there wasn’t an actual superimposed ammo counter, the movie doesn’t treat audiences like morons). But wait! The gun nut nitpicker says that a Desert Eagle in .50 AE holds SEVEN rounds in the magazine, and one in the chamber. Maybe his magazines have bad springs and he only loads six rounds? Twelve does have a nice ring to it.
Some of the baddies Deadpool takes on with his pistols on the overpass bridge are carrying FN-SCAR-L rifles. The L means its the “light” version of the Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (known in the military as the Mk 16 Mod 0, chambered in 5.56). The SCAR-H, or Mk17 Mod 0, is designated as the “heavy” version chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO.
There are several variants to the modular rifle system, with short and long barrel lengths in each caliber. It's notoriously accurate and reliable in any of its configurations, and as of last year, the FN SCAR is in military or law enforcement service in more than 20 countries.
It was pretty easy to miss, but as Deadpool is doing his slice-and-dice routine, a couple of his victims are carrying, in one of its very few on-screen appearances, the MTAR-21 bullpup rifle from IMI. Sometimes called the Micro Tavor, it’s a compact PDW (personal defense weapon) version of the full-sized bullpup IMI Tavor. For civilians on this side of the pond, the little rifle is known as the X95. One of the advantages of the small firearm is that it can be easily converted from a 5.56 rifle to a 9mm submachine gun that uses standard Uzi pistol magazines in 20-, 25-, and 32-round capacities.
An M4 carbine with an extended stock is 35 inches long overall with a 14.5-inch barrel. The X95, on the other hand, is 23 inches long overall, with a 13-inch barrel. There are other configurations available, including a longer 16.5-inch barrel. At this year’s SHOT Show, IMI introduced a new version of the X95 with a relocated charging handle and controls, including a magazine release, that more closely resemble that of an AR. Unfortunately, none of the baddies got to see how good a rifle the X95 can be…they didn’t even get a shot off.
Another very high-end, advanced firearm that somehow couldn’t stand a chance against Wade’s twin pistols, the SG 552 from SIG Sauer is a compact version of the company’s SIG SG 550 assault rifle. The SG is an abbreviation for Sturmgewehr, which literally means “assault rifle,” a moniker first bestowed on the Sturmgewehr 44 developed during WWII by the Germans. That’s about where the similarities end.
The SG 552 Commando was introduced in the late 1990s with a short 8.9 inch barrel and chambered in 5.56. It fires from a closed bolt and has a gas-actuated pistol-driven long-stroke operating system with a rotary bolt and two locking lugs.
The 552 we see in Deadpool looks to have an ACOG sight mounted on top, possibly an EOtech, and a 30-round magazine plus an angled foregrip.
Of course, the venerable MP5 had to make an appearance, and confirm that the armorer for this film was determined to stick to foreign-made firearms. We see a pair of these stubby submachine guns wielded by the bad-guy on a motorcycle who actually deals Wade some serious damage. Not that it matters, since bullet holes in him heal faster than Hollywood jumps on a trend (did you hear the new Hunger Games movie will be rated NC-17? Sick.).
This unique-looking little powerhouse of a 9mm automatic was first introduced in 1976 as a shortened version of the MP5A2 and was designed for use in close-quarters by clandestine operators, bodyguards, and special services. The civilian semi-automatic version of the MP5K is known as the SP89 and had a forend and muzzle guard instead of the vertical foregrip. A lot of times, armorers for films will modify the easier-to-find SP89s to appear as MP5Ks.
So what was the little gun’s first big-screen appearance? It was Bond, of course. The MP5K popped up in 1987’s The Living Daylights before showing up in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) and then many, many others through the decades.
No screenshots available, but at least one bad guy in the bridge shootout was using a turkish-made UTS-15 shotgun with the integrated tac light under the barrel. The high-capacity pump hasn't made too many on-screen appearances since it was introduced a few years ago, probably due to its futuristic appearance. Some of the ACU troopers in Jurassic World (2015) carried them, and Vin Diesel and Kurt Russell used one in Furious 7 (2015).
The UTS-15 has gotten a bit more play on the small screen, making appearances on Fringe, Continuum, Almost Human, The Walking Dead, and The Flash. But players of Counter-Strike and Battlefield 4 know it intimately. The mostly plastic shotgun holds 14 2-3/4" 12 gauge shells in two tubular magazines positioned above the barrel. It can feed from either tube, or alternate between tubes via a selector switch.
And there looks to be more high-caliber fun from Marvel down the road. It’s pretty certain a Deadpool sequel will be made, but before then, Marvel fans have the second season of the original Netflix series “Daredevil” to look forward to on March 18. One of the main antagonists is the walking arsenal of comic-book lore that is The Punisher, otherwise known as Frank Castle.
There have been two big-screen adaptations (not counting the low-budget Dolph Lundgren Punisher from 1989) of the skull-emblazoned vigilante with no mercy for criminals. Neither the Thomas Jane flick nor the Ray Stevenson sequel struck a chord with audiences. However, the newest iteration on the unrated series stars Jon Bernthal of The Walking Dead fame. Details are sparse, but from a production still, we know he carries at least a Smith & Wesson Model 327 Performance Center R8 pistol, one of the few revolvers out there sold with an integrated accessory rail.
You can also spot an M4 with an M203 grenade launcher mounted under the barrel in the season 2 trailer along with some semi-auto pistols and what look like IEDs, something of a signature firearm for The Punisher.
It seems the armorer for the show knows Castle can’t be outfitted with run-of-the-mill guns, so it’ll be interesting to see what else is in store. Check out the DD trailer below, plus trailers for each of the Punisher films, in chronological order:
Older incarnations of The Punisher:
The Punisher (1989)
The Punisher (2004)
Punisher: War Zone (2008)
