Blockbuster Is Having a Big Week in Pop Culture Thanks to Deadpool and Captain Marvel

In a sign of the times, only one Blockbuster store remains open in America (a privately owned one in Bend, Oregon) after two of its fellow rental shops closed in Alaska this summer. But the nostalgic brand experienced an unexpected jolt of energy this week from two beloved superhero franchises: Captain Marvel and Deadpool.

The first trailer for Captain Marvel opens with the titular character falling out of the sky, crashing down into the roof of Blockbuster and getting up amid aisles of rental movies—a fitting location since the movie is set in the 1990s. And with more than 22 million views on the trailer in just one day, that's a lot of promo for Blockbuster. 

Meanwhile, across the pond in London, a #BlockbusterBack marketing stunt from the folks behind Deadpool 2’s release on digital download, DVD and Blu-ray resurrected Blockbuster by opening up a pop-up in Shoreditch. The catch? It was open for only two days—Sept. 17 and 18—and it offered only one movie. The store was stocked with 1,989 copies of Deadpool 2, a nice nod to London's first Blockbuster branch opening in 1989. As the tweets below show, fans enjoyed the blast from the past. It's like Netflix but IRL.