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Disney has come under fire over a theme park show it says is suitable for all ages, even though it is filled with raunchy jokes about its characters using gay dating app Grindr and wanting to 'bang' each other.
Called Story Time with Deadpool, the show takes place at Disney's California Adventure Park and is based on the film Deadpool & Wolverine, which hit streaming platforms last week and had the biggest domestic opening ever for an R-rated film.
It stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as the eponymous antiheroes who reluctantly team up to save the universe.
Although they are characters from Marvel comics and wear colorful costumes, it is anything but a children's film, as it features many F-bombs, repeated references to intense sexual acts, and jokes about cocaine use.
Disney has come under fire over a theme park show it says is suitable for all ages even though it is filled with raunchy jokes about its characters using the gay dating app Grindr.
Called Story Time with Deadpool, the show airs at Disney's California Adventure Park and is based on the film Deadpool & Wolverine.
The theme park show is not about drugs, but it generates as much controversy as the film.
It is the first Disney theme park character experience that promotes an R-rated film and takes the form of stand-up comedy. The show features two theme park employees dressed as Deadpool and Wolverine telling adult jokes, despite them being described on the Disneyland app as “family friendly” and “suitable for all ages.”
In one joke, Deadpool says he was on the gay dating app Grindr and saw the profile of Tony Stark, Iron Man's billionaire alter ego, played by Robert Downey Jr..
In another, Deadpool volunteers to “punch” a handsome co-worker. An even more salacious segment has Deadpool referring to Wolverine as “the bottom” – a euphemism for a sexual role in a gay relationship.
The Disneyland app says Deadpool's “tales will delight, delight and inspire,” but not all theme park fans agree.
In the show, Deadpool volunteers to 'punch' a handsome co-worker. An even more salacious segment shows Deadpool referring to Wolverine as 'the bottom'
Deadpool and Wolverine hit streaming platforms last week and had the biggest domestic debut for an R-rated film
One on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, described it as “disgraceful and highly inappropriate.”
Another added: “I love the character and his humor, but he doesn’t belong in the Disney parks.”
This was echoed on Instagram with the comment that 'it shouldn't be allowed in a children's amusement park', while another user said 'the fact that he mentions Grindr in a Disney park is incomprehensible to me'.
Although Deadpool & Wolverine is rated R, Disney sells action figures of the characters.
The company also announced that Deadpool will also appear on its newest cruise ship next year.
Disneyland's app says Deadpool's 'tales will delight, enchant and inspire', but not all theme park fans agree
“The references to cocaine in Deadpool and Wolverine and the appearance of these characters promoting the film in a Disney theme park and on Disney cruises are not acceptable,” says Peggy Sapp, president of the National Family Partnership, a campaign group founded in 1980. by Nancy Reagan and parents across America in response to the rising level of drug use among young people.
'Ultimately we are all responsible for our behaviors, producers, directors and everyone in the film industry cannot pretend they are just portraying societal norms, they must help make social norms healthy.
'Remember when all movie stars smoked in the cinema? How did this end up working? Drugs are no laughing matter, just read Matthew Perry's book to understand the slippery slope.
Deadpool and Wolverine are expected to appear in the upcoming kid-friendly Avengers: Secret Wars film, making it even more likely that audiences will want to watch the character's adult adventure.
“It's a really serious matter,” adds Sapp. 'Last year, 107,000 young people between the ages of 18 and 45 died from fentanyl poisoning. Drug use is no joke. Drug use is preventable when society works together to convey anti-drug messages. Can we work together or will Disney choose profits over public health?'
Disney declined to comment when contacted by DailyMail.com.
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