How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Deadpool.
Quote #1
COLOSSUS: I've given Deadpool every chance to join us, but he'd rather act like a child. A heavily armed child. When will he grow up and see benefits of becoming X-Man?
NEGASONIC TEENAGE WARHEAD: Which benefits? The matching unitards? The house that blows up every few years?
COLOSSUS: Please. House blowing up every few years builds character.
Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead show that even superheroes have shades to their character, and their attitudes about heroism. He's disciplined and staid; she's sarcastic and jaded.
Quote #2
RECRUITER: The world needs extraordinary soldiers. We won't just make you better. We will make you better than better: A superhero.
WADE: Look, Agent Smith, I tried the hero business, and it left a mark, but if I ever hit "f*** it," I'll look you up.
Throughout the entire film, Wade's reluctant to join the X-Men and be a straight arrow superhero. This exchange is the closest we get to a reason why. He never goes into detail about what this metaphorical mark is, but it sounds like his military career left him with some emotional scars.
Quote #3
DEADPOOL: Let's pro-con this superhero thing. Pro: They pull down a gaggle of ass. Local dry-cleaning discounts. Lucrative film deals, both origin stories and larger ensemble team movies. Con: They're all lame-ass teacher's pets.
COLOSSUS: You know I can hear you.
DEADPOOL: I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to them.
Deadpool and Colossus are at opposite ends of the spectrum in their views about heroism and goodness. Colossus is by-the-books, and Deadpool knows it. That's why he enjoys teasing him so much. While Colossus is all-in re: superhero stuff, Deadpool remains detached; his pros are all practical and have nothing to do with how being and doing good affects one's character.
Quote #4
COLOSSUS: You've been warned before, Deadpool. This is a shameful and reckless use of your powers.
The way Colossus sees it, Deadpool—and anybody else, for that matter—has an obligation to use their powers for good.
Quote #5
AJAX: Ah, my welcome speech used to be full of euphemisms, like "This may hurt a little." "This may cause you some discomfort." But I've grown blunt. This workshop is not a government-led program. It's a private institution that turns reclamation projects like yourself into men of extraordinary abilities. But if you think super-human powers are acquired painlessly…Wrong.
When Ajax says that acquiring super-human powers is a painful process, he's talking about his lab's techniques. The thing is, he's living proof that they also take a mental and emotional toll. His inability to feel anything has turned him into an evil, sadistic, power-hungry creep. Similarly, Ajax's procedure messes with Wade's head something fierce—and we're not just talking about his disfigured face. It also causes him to lose Vanessa, albeit temporarily.
Quote #6
AJAX: You know the funniest part of this? You still think we're making you a superhero. You. A dishonorable discharge. Hip-deep in hookers. You're nothing. Little secret, Wade: This workshop doesn't make superheroes. We make super-slaves. We're gonna fit you with a control collar and auction you off to the highest bidder. Who knows what they'll have you doing? Terrorizing citizens, putting down freedom fighters. Maybe just mow the occasional lawn.
Ajax lies, he insults, he tortures, he mocks, and he plans to sell Wade as a terrorist-slave. Yup; we'd say he ticks all the boxes for evil.
Quote #7
COLOSSUS: Four or five moments. That's all it takes.
DEADPOOL: To?
COLOSSUS: Be a hero. Everyone thinks it's a full-time job. Wake up a hero. Brush your teeth a hero. Go to work a hero. Not true. Over a lifetime, there are only four or five moments that really matter. Moments when you're offered a choice, to make a sacrifice, conquer a flaw, save a friend, spare an enemy. In these moments, everything else falls away. The way the world sees us, the way we— Deadpool shoots Ajax in the head. Colossus vomits.
COLOSSUS: Why?
DEADPOOL: You were droning on.
Here, Deadpool subverts the superhero movie trope of the grandiose, dewy-eyed speech about right and wrong. Colossus is trying to have a moment here, man, and Deadpool ruins it, either because he's bored by Colossus' treatise on true heroism, because he can't wait to conclude his revenge on Ajax, or a little bit of both. Either way, it seems that Deadpool hasn't been swayed completely to the good side by the events in the shipyard.
Quote #8
DEADPOOL: If wearing superhero tights means sparing psychopaths, then maybe I wasn't meant to wear them. Not everyone monitors a hall like you.
COLOSSUS: Just promise—
DEADPOOL: Yeah, yeah, I'll be on the lookout for the next four moments.
Well, then. When Deadpool frames what Colossus wanted him to do this way—i.e., spare the life of an evil psychopath—suddenly Deadpool's inner conflict over being heroically good or continuing to break bad every now and then seems just a wee bit more understandable.