Members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints are outraged over the poster for the new Deadpool film Once Upon A Deadpool. They claim the poster is a copycat and that it paints a disturbing image of Jesus Christ.
Ryan Reynolds, who plays the titular character, shared the poster on his Instagram page on Dec. 5 and it has since received over a million views as of this writing. It has also amassed over 15,000 comments, some of which called out its mockery to Jesus Christ.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Ryan Reynolds (@vancityreynolds) on Dec 4, 2018 at 1:07pm PST
Members of the LDS Church especially took offense with its similarity to "The Second Coming" painting by the late Harry Anderson, who was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church but contributed several paintings for the LDS Church.
The poster has angered members of the Mormon faith because of its resemblance to a painting commissioned by the church. The promotional image shows Deadpool descending from the heavens, surrounded by characters in the film posing as a choir of angels playing various kinds of musical instruments. The phrase"Yule Believe in Miracles" appears on the heading.
Patrick Mason, the chair of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University, told Fox13 that "The Second Coming" painting is an important part of the church's belief. So it is understandable why those of Mormon faith would have a negative reaction toward the poster.
Kattia Contreras, a member of the Church of the Latter Day Saints told ABC4 that the poster mocks Jesus.
"We shouldn't make fun of the savior... They are making fun of Jesus Christ."
A petition against the poster has since been opened following its release, and over 41,000 people have signed. The petition calls for the Once Upon Deadpool poster to be taken down or replaced with another less blasphemous image. Cassidy Carter, who started the appeal, declared that the promotional image is a copy of the original painting and called it a "form of religious discrimination."
Meanwhile, others expressed their displeasure and hurt over the "mocking" and "disrespectful" portrayal of Jesus Christ.
"It's offensive to something spiritual and representative to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."
Even those who are not members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints expressed their distaste at the Once Upon A Deadpool poster. Some call it "offensive," "vulgar," and done in "poor taste" to something that is sacred to millions of Jesus Christ believers.
The Church of the Latter Day Saints has yet to respond to the poster. Reynolds, Fox, and Marvel have also not released any statement regarding the petition.
