The second act of Deadpool 2, the sequel to the hyperviolent and potty-mouthed 2016 blockbuster, shows the title character assembling a team of young superheroes to serve as his sidekicks. Such a thing would seem a violation of everything Deadpool stands for. As we learned in the first film (and as you comic-book readers knew already), Deadpool is a mean and selfish loner who doesn’t believe in anything.

But then, in one of the movie’s many Brechtian asides, Deadpool helpfully explains that “we need ’em tough, morally flexible, and young enough to carry their own franchise for 10 to 12 years.” Nor does the gag end there. After the sidekicks are recruited—they include a guy named Peter who has no superpowers whatever but does sport an excellent 1970s ’stache—Deadpool 2 then features a sequence in which (spoiler alert) all but one of them die in comically gruesome fashion largely due to Deadpool’s inattention and sloppiness. Somehow, the sequel actually succeeds in matching the first movie in storytelling irreverence.