This article contains spoilers for cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Deadpool & Wolverinerecently passed The Passion of the Christ at the domestic box office,making it the biggest R-rated movie of all-time in North America. This broken record inspired people on social media to become broken records, repeating the same joke that nothing could be more indicative of American culture. Is that true? Maybe. But, what, exactly does it indicate?

What Makes Americans Love The Passion Of The Christ And Deadpool?

The implied joke is that the United States really loves Christianity and really loves superhero movies, maybe even more. That — like a country musician putting odes to the Good Lord and Grey Goose on the same album — we love the sacred and the profane in equal measure. The Passion is what Americans feel like they should like; Deadpool is what theyactuallylike. Deadpool is partying on Saturday night, The Passion is dutifully heading to church on Sunday morning. And that hyperviolence — whether inflicted via crucifixion or, well, actually, there’s a crucifixion in Deadpool 3, too — is the one thing we will consistently turn out to see.

All of that is true. American culture is defined by its relationship to violence — sometimes active, sometimes passive. Our government is defined by inaction, which prevents anyone from doing anything about thetens of thousands of people dying from gun violence each year. Our primary mode of transportation is uniquely violent, too, with car accidents causingmore than 40,000 deaths in 2023. We have nearly 800 military bases around the world, and it’s rare for the U.S. not to be at war. Weincarcerate more people than any other country in the world. The US is a violent country, and it makes sense that our defining R-rated movies would be extremely violent to match.

Deadpool & Wolverine image showing Deadpool with his hands on his face next to a confused Logan.

It’s interesting to note that neither of these films is rated R for sexual content or nudity. Deadpool and Wolverine’s MPAA rating does include “sexual references,” but those are just dirty jokes. Last year’s social media discourse overOppenheimer’s very mild sex scenes was a reminder that Americans have become afraid of sex in movies, and our two highest-grossing R-rated films steer clear of the third rail.

Maybe the real lesson here has nothing to do with sex or violence. Maybe the lesson is that Americans really love IP. And what IP is bigger than Jesus Christ? Comic books are popular, sure, but the Bible is the best-selling book in the history of the world. And, though Americans are less religious than they were when The Passion of the Christ came out 20 years ago, there are still way more churches than comic book stores in the United States. Moviegoing audiences (especially American audiences) want to see something familiar when they go to the theater, and what’s more familiar than the story you’ve heard every Easter since you were born?

The IP connection would certainly explain Deadpool’s massive success. At a time when superhero movies have otherwise been in decline — Aquaman 2, Black Panther 2, The Marvels, and Ant-Man 3 all made significantly less than their predecessors — Deadpool 3 has already passed the lifetime gross of Deadpool and Deadpool 2. It also packs in more IP than the movies that came before it, starting with the “& Wolverine” in the title. Plus, it has the Fox legacy characters Blade, Elektra, The Human Torch, and Gambit (who isn’t really a Fox legacy character, but you know what I mean), plus major narrative connections to Loki.

So, maybe the success of The Passion of the Christ and Deadpool & Wolverine actually teaches us that franchises triumph over all. Whether the source is a comic book or the Good Book, audiences will turn out for names they recognize.