Deadpool 2 (soundtrack)

Work on a sequel to the 2016 film Deadpool began before that film's release in February of that year,[1] with the creative team of star/producer Ryan Reynolds, director Tim Miller, and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick all set to return.[2][3] However, Miller left the film that October citing "mutual creative differences" with Reynolds.[4] Subsequently, Junkie XL announced he would not be returning for the sequel after composing the score for the first film, given that Miller was "the driving force behind" him working on that film in the first place.[5] Miller was replaced as director for the sequel by David Leitch,[6] and in October 2017 it was confirmed that Tyler Bates would be writing the score for Deadpool 2 after doing the same for Leitch's previous films.[7]

Bates felt his role was to stay out of the way of the film's comedy and instead support the action and emotional elements of the film. He described the film as a "a true Rubik's Cube" to score because of all the different elements involved, and found a "learning curve" as he discovered how to balance these different parts of the film.[8] Bates approached the music with a slight rock sensibility,[8] and created an "obvious superhero theme" that he felt fit within the established X-Men franchise.[9] Bates wrote a specific motif for the character Cable which is for both the electronic and orchestral sides of the score, and reflects the character's physique and weaponry.[10]

Due to Deadpool's mask, the creative team was able to change the character's dialogue up to the film being officially completed; Reynolds took this opportunity to keep adding new jokes to the film as long as possible, with Bates consistently receiving new versions of the film to score throughout the post-production process.[8] These new versions often included new timings for dialogue and jokes, and Bates had to adjust his music to match as Bates approached the film's dialogue as if it was the lead vocals of a song he was writing, for which his music would have to complement the tonal range and timbre of the characters' voices.[11] This left very little time for Bates to prepare the final score for recording, and for the film's final sound mix to be delivered. Bates' pacing was also based on the film's editing, while the cinematography helped inspire the score's "tonal palette".[9]

For the score, Bates used a distorted guitar run through a wah-wah pedal, microsynths to add "unique colors", and a choir.[8] The choir originally sang "meaningless, faux-Latin phrases" for an aggressive vocal cue, which was being recorded on a day that Leitch was visiting the 20th Century Fox recording studio. Bates discussed with Leitch potentially replacing the nonsense phrases with scene-appropriate lyrics, and the pair worked during a 20-minute break in recording with choral contractor Sally Stevens and orchestrator-conductor Tim Williams to write the new lines. The lyrics they wrote, which follow the rhythm of the original music, include "you can’t stop this motherfucker" and "holy shit balls!", which ultimately earned the score a parental advisory warning. It is the first score album to receive such a warning. Bates felt this was not "merit-less debauchery, it was just fun. It’s very rare that we can work on something at such a high professional level that embraces the irreverence of Deadpool."[12]

Leitch felt that retaining the personal stakes of the first film by focusing on "an existential crisis and a deeply personal cause" for Deadpool was going to be more compelling for audiences than trying to build the film around global stakes,[13] and as part of that he wanted to create an original song for the film that served as an emotional through-line for the film's characters in the vein of "Take My Breath Away" and "My Heart Will Go On".[14] He and music supervisor John Houlihan "ended up discovering" the song "Ashes" as written by Petey Martin, Jordan Smith, and Tedd T.[14][15] After further discussions between Leitch and Reynolds, the latter asked Céline Dion to record the song for the film.[14] The soundtrack also features an original collaboration between Diplo, French Montana, Zhavia Ward and Lil Pump called "Welcome to the Party".[16]

As explained by co-writer Reese, the song "We Belong" by Pat Benatar was used in the film to illustrate the theme of family that they were exploring, and was almost used a second time during the X-Force parachuting sequence but was replaced with AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" which was used as a "pump me up" song—because of its "straight" tone and use in Iron Man 2—to help sell the excitement of the audience before the X-Force characters are unexpectedly killed.[17] While writing the film's score, Bates was kept aware of the licensed songs that were being used in conjunction with his music because he felt it was "paramount" to his understanding of the film and Reynolds' intentions for it. He also attempted to compose the music on either side of each song in such a way that it could augment the songs and elevate their intended effects.[10]

Deadpool 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.[46] If won, the award will be presented to the compilation producers David Leitch and Ryan Reynolds, and to the music supervisor, John Houlihan.[46]