The Merc With A Mouth makes his long-awaited return to the silver screen in Fox’s “Deadpool 2,” which debuted in theaters across America on Friday, May 18, to the expected outcry of joy from fans of the raunchiest X-Man.

The sequel to 2016’s box office god “Deadpool,” “DP2” follows Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) as he attempts to be a good person for once and stop time-travelling Mutant Cable (Josh Brolin) from killing a child named Russell (Julian Dennison). To do so, Wilson forms a Superhero team known as X-Force, consisting of Domino (Zazie Beets), Shatterstar (Lewis Tan), Zeitgeist (Bill Skarsgard) and Bedlam (Terry Crews). Returning from “Deadpool 1” are “Firefly” alumna Morena Baccarin, recent convict T.J. Miller, “Exorcist” TV star Brianna Hildebrand, “Office Christmas Party” star Karan Soni and the team of guys it takes to make Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic).

The most iconic feature of Deadpool is his ability to break the fourth wall and interact with the audience. While he is shown doing this quite a bit, he does not perform his signature act nearly as much as he did in “Deadpool 1”, which leaves viewers feeling like Mr. Pool was not being as insane or as lax about breaking the fourth wall as he usually is.

Deadpool is known for his violence and explicit content almost as much as his fourth wall breaking. While “DP2” features ample amounts of violence, gore, profanity and incredibly choreographed action sequences, the sequel seems reserved in its use of explicit nudity. This is not necessarily bad, although when the first “Deadpool” featured both frontal and posterior shots of Reynolds’ body, it leaves viewers with the same feeling of lacking as the fourth wall breaks do. Many parents will no doubt be happy that there is one less thing in “DP2” they have to worry about hiding from their young children.

As far as heroes (or in this case, extremely proficient, morally ambiguous hitmen in tights) go, Deadpool is one of the funniest and in his follow-up movie, Reynolds provides incredible amounts of humor. From his usual snarky remarks to pop culture references to plenty of expectation subversion, fans of the leather-clad mercenary will be pleased to know their favorite hero does not disappoint in the comedy department.

Like most movies in 2018, “DP2” provides a spectacular soundtrack. The Merc’s list of artists includes the likes of Celine Dion, Dolly Parton, Cher and Skrillex. This interesting mix of artists makes the sequel soundtrack one of the most unique to ever grace the silver screen.

“DP2” breaks ground for its inclusion of an openly LGBT couple in the form of Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna). The couple isn’t overly done or stereotypical and end ups serving a very minor role in the story. The couple was a massive step up for Hollywood, as homosexual and biracial couples are usually avoided in film, but “DP2” manages to incorporate both flawlessly.

Unfortunately, “DP2” falls flat in one area, which is its primary antagonist, Cable. While fans of the comics will surely be familiar with Nathan Summers, the movie does little to develop his backstory, other than establish that he is a mutant who travels through time and wants to stop the future. This might not bother harcore fans, but leaves many questions on the mind of a casual viewer, questions which “DP2” fails to answer.

The leather-clad sequel also fails to utilize any interesting camera angles, although it more than makes up for this with its intense and well-choreographed action sequences. These tense scenes are no doubt a product director David Leitch joining the project after Tim Miller quit. Leitch, a stunt double before director, has had hands in producing and directing action heavy films like “John Wick,” “Atomic Blonde,” and ironically enough, was an action coordinator on Deadpool’s first on-screen appearance, the infamous “X-Men Origins Wolverine.” His experience bled through and only served to improve “DP2.”

“DP2” is packed full of cameos, to the point where the most diligent of fans might not notice them all, especially because a certain cameo is from a well-known voice actor who is rarely seen not animated. Deadpool also makes many references to the Marvel Comics, the disastrous DC universe and so much more. He constantly makes fun of Cable’s height, as Cable in the comics is 6’8” and Josh Brolin is only 5’10” in real life.

Like its predecessor, “DP2” is rated “R” for good reason. Reynolds has no filter on his mouth, saying almost every profanity in the book. There is nudity, although incredibly brief and the violence is off the charts. Decapitations, dismemberments and forced reconfiguring of the human anatomy happen regularly and for smaller children, this might be incredibly scarring, much like the first film was to those parents who didn’t do their research before taking their kids to see it.

Fox had massive reservations with the first “Deadpool” and as such, gave it a minimal budget. After that film’s massive box office haul, Fox more than doubled the budget for “DP2” which allowed for more action, bigger special effects and plenty more jokes at the expense of Fox. It also allowed for things like helicopter jumps, exotic locations and massive stunts, which fans of Deadpool and fans of action movies will greatly appreciate

“DP2,” despite being an incredibly amusing film, does not capture the joy the first film brought. “Deadpool 1” was funnier, more meta and arguably more gory. Despite this, “DP2” manages to make up for any complaints within the final minutes of the film and rest assured fans will enjoy the closing moments of this spectacular superhero comedy. For an underdeveloped villain and a somewhat reserved use of his signature comedic style, “DP2” earns a 7/10.