Ryan Reynolds’ new Netflix movie features clever Deadpool callback

Little did we know that to actually find a Deadpool Easter Egg, we’d need to watch a different Reynolds movie altogether – new Netflix sci-fi adventure The Adam Project.

Directed by Free Guy’s Levy and starring Reynolds as a time-traveller who teams up with his younger self, there doesn’t appear to be much that would connect this family-friendly streaming movie with the foul-mouthed Deadpool – but watch closely, and there is one moment that links them together.

It occurs near the end of The Adam Project during the final battle, when Adam the younger (Walker Scobell) finally gets his hands on his older self’s lightsaber-like battle staff. Using the staff to propel himself through the air before making a dramatic landing, Adam whispers in happiness: “Superhero landing!”

Even if you don’t know the name, you probably know the superhero landing by sight. It’s that moment in a film where a hero crashes to the ground, landing on one knee with the other raised, often accompanied by a fist to the ground. You’d see it in Iron Man, Spider-Man, Black Widow…technically, it even shows up in Milton’s Paradise Lost, making the superhero landing over 350 years old (Google it).

Anyway, it’s a fairly well-worn trope, and it makes sense that Adam would riff on it. However, it’s also got a close connection to the first Deadpool movie, which included a whole scene about the topic in the character’s usual fourth wall-breaking style.

While it could be a coincidence, the joke isn’t really set up earlier in The Adam Project, suggesting that it’s intended as more of a meta nod to Reynolds’ best-known role. If you did spot it, well done. If not, well, it’s not exactly Deadpool 3 anyway, so don’t worry too much about it.

The Adam Project is streaming on Netflix now. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide.