LDS Petition Protests Deadpool Spoof of Harry Anderson Second Coming Painting
12 December 2018 | A petition launched on Change.org is protesting the spoofing of a painting commissioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Adventist artist Harry Anderson created the original painting of the Second Coming featuring Jesus in the sky, surrounded by angels.
The spoof contains the Marvel character, Deadpool, wearing a white robe and positioned exactly as Christ in the original painting, surrounded by other characters clad in white. The spoof features on a poster promoting Once Upon a Deadpool, the latest film from Marvel Studios that was released on December 12.
To date, the petition, started by a Cassidy Carter, has garnered 35,752 online signatures. It demands that the poster be changed “to not mock the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Anderson, a devout Adventist, painted works for the Adventist community and was commissioned by the LDS Church to create several religious works of art. His work also appeared regularly in American weekly publications during the 1930s and 1940s.
The petition reads as follows:
Deadpool recently posted a new poster for the “Once Upon a Deadpool” that resembles the sacred picture of “The Second Coming”. In the original painting Jesus Christ is at the center surrounded by angels. In the poster Deadpool replaces Jesus Christ. Deadpool is positioned exactly as Jesus Christ was and is wearing a white robe. It is unknown if the picture was used to intentionally mock the Church of Jesus Christ, but it is clear it was copied from the original picture. This is a form a religious discrimination. We ask that the picture be not used or posted in any manner. That they find another poster to represent their movie.
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