It’s wild to think that Ryan Reynolds’ red and black one-mutant-army, who is totally aware he’s being watched, has gone on to become one of the most successful comic book movie franchises in history. Somehow, Deadpool, aka Wade Wilson, clawed his way out of a hole in 2006 to do it almost 20 years later, just to the tune of *NSYNC.

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The hero who can’t die (and can’t sit in a car silently) has created a legacy built on poorly handled franchises and mocking the genre that he thrives on. It’s this wild perspective that’s enough to make us hopeful for the future wherever he ends up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, whether that be popping up in the “Secret Wars” or annoying the hell out of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, just the way comic book fans had always hoped.

But now, with five films under his belt, which of the “Deadpool” movies stands as the best among the bunch? Which entry among these side-splitting superhero spectaculars is worth going back to, and which of them is so bad that Ryan Reynolds will poke fun at it in every movie from then on? Well, we’ve gone through every “Deadpool” outing to decipher which one earned the top spot, so put on the brown pants, scroll through this list, and yell at us in the replies of wherever you found this page. It’s really what Wade would’ve wanted.

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When you really think about it, there’s as much to be thankful about as there is to be angry with Logan’s first lone outing in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” We should be glad that in the worst Wolverine movie ever, there’s the awesome title sequence that might be the best bit of the story in the whole film. Heck, we even got a decent live-action Gambit in Taylor Kitsch before Channing Tatum memeified him. Perhaps the biggest crime of all, though, is that in giving us the first glimpse of perfect casting with Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson, who is famously known for being the Merc with the Mouth, they silenced him for the movie’s final act.

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While it was a debut that would become regularly ripped apart by Reynolds in the years that followed, at the time, die-hard fans were flabbergasted that Wade had been degraded to nothing more than a muted meat puppet with katanas in his arms. Doing so turned the iconic anti-hero into a dull henchman who could’ve been replaced with just about anyone else. The silver lining of all of this is that we caught a glimpse of Reynolds in the character he’d make his own and a two-billion-dollar franchise that would come from it. That still doesn’t hide the fact that it’s still a painful thing to sit through, even after all these years.

After the massive success of “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” unused and alternate footage was cut together to make “Anchorman: Wake Up, Ron Burgundy — The Lost Movie.” It’s good but not great. Perhaps more of a cash-in and only a viewing for die-hard fans of the mustached news reporter. That’s how “Once Upon A Deadpool” feels in the list of Wade’s whimsical big-screen outings. Sitting next to a tucked-in Fred Savage in a nod to “The Princess Bride,” Deadpool proceeds to retell the story of his second movie, albeit with a PG filter. Well, as much of a PG filter as you can imagine while Wade regularly winks at the camera.

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Cutting back on the violence and the swearing of the first film, “Once Upon a Deadpool” still has enough innuendo to make you wonder if this slightly softer iteration should be roped in alongside the other R-rated chapters in Wade’s big-screen work. It doesn’t really play as well as the second movie due to these limitations and really does feel like a silly little extra nugget for fans to get into. The positive is that some of the funds for the film’s release went to charity, but honestly, do yourself a favor and rewatch “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” which sees superheroes kidnap another ’80s icon in a far more effective manner.

Released in 2018, Wade wandered back into theaters with an even greater audience behind him that had now become accustomed to his fourth-wall-breaking, F-bomb-dropping, antihero antics. As a result, it provided more freedom for Wilson and the other characters who were dragged into his second adventure. Perhaps the biggest issue with “Deadpool 2,” however, is that there was a bit too much action to go around.

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Every plot detail in “Deadpool 2” puts it on the verge of being something greater. It comes close to being a buddy movie and a team-up movie but doesn’t quite manage to be either. Everything feels sort of rushed, with some major elements that are invaluable bits of comic book lore being reduced to a punchline or getting a one-time use, particularly in the case of the short-lived but comedically deconstructed X-Force and Zazie Beetz’s take on Domino.

The biggest and most bittersweet highlight, however, is Josh Brolin as Cable. Making a brilliantly meta move of casting Thanos as the time-travelling freedom fighter, it’s Reynolds and Brolin’s chemistry that is the winning ingredient here as the chalk-and-cheese pair fight and then befriend each other. A perfect match from the off (and a lucky one considering Cable almost went to Michael Shannon), it’s almost annoying that we’re unlikely to get this iconic comic book pair on screen together again, all because of another hero who’ll be doing this until he’s 90.

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The plot might be utter nonsense, and the film might be one long key-jangling session for Marvel, but “Deadpool & Wolverine” has found its way so high on the list thanks to the film being fuelled by the reunion fans had waited 15 years to see back on the screen. This super-powered “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” gave us Channing Tatum’s Gambit, Wesley Snipes somehow agreeing to return to Blade (“and there’s only gonna be one Blade”), as well as finally smushing franchises together. But the real win is just seeing Logan and Wade turning the air from blue to red and back again.

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But just like Wade was a highlight in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” it’s here that this different Weapon X variant in “Deadpool & Wolverine” (which almost had the different title of “Deadpool and Friend”) steals the show. He might not be the Logan we left in James Mangold’s movie, but the one Jackman brings to life here is the highlight of the film — feeling just as short-tempered, tortured, and effortlessly as cool as the last time we left him. Then there are the extra special perks of finally getting him in that yellow and blue suit, cowl and all, holding on to Wade while a choir sings a rendition of “Like A Prayer” that thankfully wouldn’t get overused on every social media platform in existence from then on. Okay, so maybe the last part was an educated wish, but we’ve got to admit it still hits every single time.

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Why is the first “Deadpool” movie at the top of the list? Well, while the easy argument of it being “the one that started it all” feels warranted, there’s also that it was simply an impressive and game-changing achievement for the star and a specific kind of blockbuster movie he was about to spin on its head. After his woeful introduction with Wade in 2006, Ryan Reynolds still saw a kindred spirit in this smart-mouthed, sharp-shooting, meta-stating hero and took it upon himself to take on the character once more. This wasn’t just a Hollywood star giving another crack at a part but a fan that clearly knew how to handle Deadpool just right and pitch it to 20th Century Fox, thanks to that accidentally leaked footage that was a template for the final film.

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When the finished product did finally arrive, it was a swear-filled jolt of electricity in the superhero genre, with a character that was as heartbreaking as he was hilarious. Sure, the love story between Wade and Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) may have been revisited in every film that followed, but it was dressed up with razor-sharp comedic moments that other Marvel films wouldn’t dare visit. It’s one loaded with gore and self-referential rants at the genre. Wade was doing a great job of reviving and has every chance to elevate now that he’s part of the cinematic universe we’ve waited years for him to bust into.