If you graduated anything circa late oughts to early 2010s, then there’s likely one very memorable chord progression that sticks out in your head. Perhaps a soft-spoken “f*ck” that was probably cut out of the slideshow of your friends and family which illuminated the big screen as you prepared to move on to the next chapter of your life. Yes, we’re talking about Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” the song that became the defacto anthem for the closing of one book and the opening of another. Well, in Deadpool & Wolverine‘s emotional tribute montage, which plays during the credits of the movie, the nostalgic song denoted exactly that. As Deadpool & Wolverine‘s end credits sequence paid homage to what came before it, Millenials everywhere were taken back to every meaningful ending/beginning in their lives. Well played, Marvel Studios.
Typically, when one enters the credits of a Marvel Studios movie, they expect a tease of what’s to come in the MCU’s future. But the montage of scenes that played during the end credits of Deadpool & Wolverine looked instead to the past, to the legacy of the 20th Century Fox X-Men and other Marvel movies. As mentioned, the dulcet tones of Green Day’s hit “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” teamed up with scenes from the 20th Century Fox X-Men and Marvel movies themselves, as well as behind-the-scenes looks and other featurettes, to create a truly emotional sendoff for the films that arguably began the modern era of superhero movies. There’s nothing like an end credits slideshow to make us sob, and Deadpool & Wolverine‘s really got us.
20th Century Fox’s X-Men was first released in 2000; that’s an incredible two decades ago. And, as the tribute montage in Deadpool & Wolverine‘s end credits suggests, we couldn’t have made it to this point without it. The 20th Century Fox X-Men and Marvel movies weren’t all hits. Some of them were sheer brilliance. Others were flops. But for a whole generation of nerds, they were the movies we grew up with. And there’s a place in our hearts they’ll always hold. Regardless of the quality of each specific movie or character, the 20th Century Fox entries in the superhero world gave us performances and moments that absolutely stand the test of time. And that’s why seeing different hallmarks of the films return in Deadpool & Wolverine was so powerful and so satisfying.
But, of course, as the use of Green Day in Deadpool & Wolverine‘s credits montage suggests, that era of the 20th Century Fox Marvel movies has come to a close. In welcoming these characters into the MCU to live another day, Marvel Studios also gave them their endings. Save for a potential few that might cross from one universe into another in a new form; this chapter has ended. As with all graduations, it leaves a bittersweet taste in our mouths. But at least we can always revisit the end credits of Deadpool & Wolverine and feel all the beautifully painful feelings that saying goodbye to the 20th Century Fox gang left us with.
So thank you, 20th Century Fox Marvel movies; we indeed had the time of our lives.