Ryan Reynolds Says Deadpool Will Not be Tied to X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Posted 02.29.12 by Ryan
Since appearing briefly in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the character of Deadpool has seen a resurgence in popularity, with several comic book titles featuring the "Merc with a mouth." However, a movie spin-off of Deadpool hasn't been as easy.
Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were hired to write the script for Deadpool in January of 2010, with visual effects guru Tim Miller hired to direct last April. Actor Ryan Reynolds, who played the character in Wolverine, revealed last August that the project was still in development, and, earlier this month, said that a Deadpool movie is only a matter of "budget and time." In a recent interview with IGN, Reynolds updated the production further, calling the script "fantastic" and again relaying the movie's intention to be "done right" (i.e. rated R).
The script is, I think, fantastic. It's been developed even further in the last three months or so. But the film has to be rated R, and it has to be done a certain way, it has to do all these things that I am sure can worrisome for the guy cutting the checks for it — particularly that guy — so if it’s going to be done, it needs to be done right.
Reynolds agreed that the Deadpool movie would be more hardcore than the version of the character that appeared in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, remarking that the character "will actually have absolutely no connection to the one that was in Wolverine," which has to be good news for Deadpool fans.
This is not the first time that Reynolds has stumped for an R-rated Deadpool, and admitted that, like his previous comments about the movie's budget, that Deadpool isn't likely going to be made for the same budget as other tentpole comic book adaptations.
If we ended up doing a Deadpool movie, that would be a lot of fun, I think. Having the opportunity to do it rated R would mean that the budget would have to be down enough that you're given the opportunity to take big risks and do things that most superhero movies haven't been able to do yet.
Looks like the pressure is on Miller to prove he can direct Deadpool at a budget that would encourage Fox to give the movie the greenlight. Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld teased in January that he "may or may not" have seen eight minutes of "blow your mind" test footage from Deadpool, so, unless Liefeld is lying, we can assume that Miller is trying to win Fox's confidence. Until then, fans will just have to wait.