LOS ANGELES—Four-time AVN Director of the Year Axel Braun’s latest superhero release for Wicked Comix, Spideypool XXX: An Axel Braun Parody, has received 11 major AVN nominations.
Starting with the coveted Grand Reel nomination, Spideypool XXX received the second annual Mark Stone Award for Outstanding Comedy (the inaugural Mark Stone award went to last year’s Braun smash hit Black Widow XXX), Outstanding Directing – Individual Work for Braun himself, and Best Actor – Supporting for 2022 AVN/XRCO Best Male Newcomer nominee Tyler Cruise, who took over the role of Spider-Man from Xander Corvus.
Other AVN nominations include Best Soundtrack (Braun), Best Editing (Braun and Claudia Ross), Best Cinematography (Braun, James Avalon, and Ralph Parfait), Best Art Direction (Braun), Best Hair & Makeup (May Balleen), Best Non-Sex Performance (Marc Kramer), and Best Screenplay – Movie or Limited Series (Braun).
In Marvel fandom, Spideypool is shorthand for the popular "slash” teaming of Wade Wilson (Deadpool) and Peter Parker (Spider-Man). While Deadpool and Spider-Man’s relationship in the comic book canon has always been contentious—Wade is rarely all-out bad, and Peter always tries to see the good in people—character traits that the film’s producers say “have laid the foundation for a hilarious, if unlikely, superhero bromance in fan culture that has inspired thousands of works of visual art and slash fiction...but never in a live-action film.”
The film features many recurring members of the so-called Marvel AxelVerse beginning with Gamble, who returned to portray Deadpool. Added to the mix is Kenzie Taylor's role in the film. Her association with Captain Marvel began in Braun's Wicked Comix blockbuster Captain Marvel XXX, for which she received honors such as AVN's Best Transgender One-on-One Sex Scene award for her encounter with TS star Aubrey Kate.
Taylor would go on to reprise her role in the smash hit of the 2022 awards season, Black Widow XXX: An Axel Braun Parody. James Bartholet returned for the third time as well, in his non-sex role as James LeBlow, the hapless super-agent who gets killed in each of his appearances, yet keeps coming back for more.
“Spideypool XXX is my 62nd parody, and definitely my favorite one,” said Braun, who has been head of production for Wicked since 2020 and an exclusive director since 2013. “It’s a movie that really serves as a perfect example of what a porn parody should be, at least for me: funny, sexy, full of awesome costumes and easter eggs, and extremely respectful of the source material.
“On top of that, I was able to work on it with a group of extremely talented people who are also my friends, and it made the experience so much more enjoyable. It is always an honor and a privilege to be recognized for my work, and even after all these years in the business, every single AVN nomination still means the world to me.”
Now in his 33rd year in the industry, Braun is known for his knack for casting, such as Avi Love as Mrs. Hyde, Ryan Driller as Superman, Lacy Lennon as Black Widow, Ryan Ryder as Peter Pan, Kenzie Taylor as Captain Marvel and of course Seth Gamble himself, whose career was jump-started by his breakout role as Luke Skywalker in Braun’s Star Wars XXX.
Spideypool XXX: An Axel Braun Parody is available on wicked.com.
