The best predictor of a person’s reaction to the announcement of the Deadpool film may be their age. Above a certain age there’s a good chance the individual in question has never even heard of the character. Anyone younger than, say, 30, has a much better chance not just of knowing who Deadpool is, but of meeting the news with enthusiasm.

It’s not only that Deadpool is a relatively recent character. Having premiered at the tail end of 1990 he’s a baby next to the likes of Spider-Man, Batman, and Superman. Deadpool also comes in for a great deal of criticism because of the era in which he was created. The 1990s linger in infamy in the minds of comic-book fans. As the era’s most famous survivor, Deadpool is seen as emblematic of the period.