Deadpool actor makes controversial joke about Disney+ wrongful death lawsuit joke

As Deadpool and Wolverine continues to enjoy unbelievable success at the box office (figures from the UK Cinema Association state cinemas have raked in more than £52 billion since its release last month), California’s Disneyland Resort has been hosting a short-term 'Story Time with Deadpool' attraction, which continues to raise eyebrows from those familiar with the Marvel franchise with edgy jokes about Splash Mountain and Disney+.

After all, the third film in the series is rated ‘R’ in the US (meaning under-17s have to see it with a parent) and a 15 in the UK, while Disney parks are very much intended to be a family-friendly experience, so the typically NSFW character has had to be toned down a fair bit.

His guns are replaced with chimichangas, for example.

And since arriving at the theme park, the man in the red suit (not Ryan Reynolds, to be clear) hasn’t shied away from making jokes at Disney’s expense.

When Wolverine (also not Hugh Jackman) slams Deadpool’s “outdated” jokes, Deadpool expresses shock and replies: “My jokes are not ‘outdated’. They are hilarious, and modern, and unending – just like Splash Mountain.

“Oops. Too soon?”

For those unsure of the context, Splash Mountain was themed around the 1946 film Song of the South, with a petition in 2020 stating the ride’s “history and storyline are steeped in extremely problematic and stereotypical racist tropes”.

It was later revamped to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure - a ride based on The Princess and the Frog, which featured Disney’s first Black princess, Tiana – and opened in June.

But more recent footage of Disney’s Deadpool attraction has seen the ‘merc with a mouth’ allude to ongoing controversy over Disney+.

In a clip posted to TikTok and shared on Twitter/X, the actor can be heard saying: “Cinderpool was late, because he had to read every single page in the terms and conditions when he signed up to Disney+.”

Wolverine then responds to say he doesn’t “get it”, to which Deadpool replied that the audience does.

The context for this particular remark concerns a wrongful death lawsuit around the passing of a 42-year-old doctor from New York named Kanokporn Tangsuan in October, with her family alleging she suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating at an Irish pub in Disney Springs.

The lawsuit claims the family ate at Raglan Road because Disney’s website said it had “allergen-free food”, that a waiter had assured Dr Tangsuan (who had a severe allergy to nuts and dairy) and her family that the food was prepared without allergens, but that Dr Tangsuan died at hospital despite self-administering an EpiPen.

It also states a medical examiner concluded the doctor had died of “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system”.

Disney had initially argued that the case should be thrown out of court because the claimant - Dr Tangsuan’s widow, Jeffrey Piccolo – signed up for a one-month trial of Disney+ in 2019 and accepted the terms of use, which includes a “binding arbitration clause”.

In their original motion to dismiss the lawsuit, the company said: “The Terms of Use, which were provided with the Subscriber Agreement, include a binding arbitration cause.

“The first page of the Subscriber Agreement states, in all capital letters, that ‘any dispute between You and Us, except for small claims, is subject to a class action waiver and must be resolved by individual binding arbitration.”

In plain English, arbitration is where disputes are settled outside of court, with a neutral arbitrator reviewing all the available information about an issue before making a binding decision.

Piccolo’s lawyer, Brian Denney, responded to the motion by saying it was “absurd” that all of Disney+’s millions of subscribers had signed away their rights to take the company to court at any point in the future (“in perpetuity”), even when a case doesn’t even concern the streaming service, such as the one brought by Piccolo.

After Disney’s motion sparked outrage and widespread condemnation, the company said last week that it would no longer ask the Florida court to drop the lawsuit.

Josh D’Amaro, chairperson of Disney’s theme park division, said in a statement to the Associated Press on Monday evening: “At Disney, we strive to put humanity above all other considerations.

“With such unique circumstances as the ones in this case, we believe this situation warrants a sensitive approach to expedite a resolution for the family who have experienced such a painful loss.”

A sensitive and tragic incident, of course, and the Deadpool actor bringing it up during the 'Story Time with Deadpool' attraction has divided the internet.

Many feared for the fate of the actor “backstage” after cracking the “bold” joke:

While others slammed the “dystopian” nature of the comment, given it’s either that the actor joked about a person’s death without Disney’s knowledge, or the company “scripted” the line as part of the 10-minute performance:

Disneyland Resort has been approached by indy100 for comment.

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