Fandom 250: Why Deadpool and Black Panther remained relevant

What was it that kept Deadpool and Black Panther so popular this year in Fandom 250?

The Fandom 250 list is in, which breaks down the 250 best fanbases in genres ranging from sports to celebrities. This year, a lot of comic book characters made the list. Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn made the list along with real-life figure Stan Lee. This year, there were some other characters that I was shocked made this list.

Deadpool

First off, Deadpool ranked in at No. 86. Deadpool’s always had a loyal fan base. Before he became a pop culture hit an internet meme, he was Merc with a mouth who always seemed to have a ton of hilarious jokes and bad-ass fighting skill. As a fan of Wade Wilson, I wondered if he was being oversaturated. It seemed like the movie, toys, talks about a cartoon, on top of a new comic book series (written by Skottie Young) people would get tired of him. I’m happy to say I was wrong.

Deadpool 2 came in and did better numbers than expected. Especially being released around the highly anticipated Avengers: Infinity War and Solo: A Star Wars Story. It wasn’t just Deadpool that made this movie so popular. Zazie Beetz as Domino and Josh Brolin as Cable added more to the movie and kept the ticket sales going.

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Beyond the movie, Deadpool has a new ongoing series. Skottie Young was given Deadpool with a clean slate. Deadpool erased all of his happy memories and went back to being a mercenary. This was something fans missed. Granted, Gerry Duggan did a fantastic job giving us a Deadpool that we’d never seen; happy Wade Wilson. Bringing the character back to basics was essential to keep him interesting. This was a smart move and it’s one of the reasons Deadpool’s fans haven’t abandoned him.

Black Panther

The King of Wakanda ranked in at No. 5 on Fandom 250. It’s not shocking that he made this list. But he ranked in the top five. The Black Panther movie was one of the most talked about movies of 2017 and this was before the movie came out. In 2018, Black Panther came in and shattered the expectations that were already sky-high. Chadwick Boseman (who also made the list) may have been the star, but it was the supporting cast that kept the movie popular.

First off, the women of Wakanda were the talk of the town. Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia), Danai Gurira (Okoe), and Letitia Wright (Shuri) were an inspiration to little girls and women across the world. Women of color had strong characters they could be proud of. Little girls had characters that could think of things Bruce Banner couldn’t dream of. Their costumes sold great on Halloween and it continued the amazing momentum of strong women in movies.

Then there was the rise of Killmonger. Killmonger stole the show. For weeks the hashtag #KillmongerWasRight flooded social media. His, “Bury me in the ocean” quote was on the lips of everyone even to this day.