Ryan Reynolds opens up about Deadpool

Deadpool fans can all take a sigh of relief now.  If you saw X-Men Origins:  Wolverine, you were introduced to a character known as “Deadpool” but should really only be called “Weapon XI.”  FOX bastardized a fan favorite character by adding powers that did not exist for the character, and sewing his trademark wise-cracking mouth shut.  I was pissed.  They attempted to make amends to fans of the character by filming a special ending  for the character that implied that the “Deadpool” that we saw was not the real Deadpool.  It was little solace to upset fans, but not long after that, the actor who played Wade Wilson in the film came out to announce that there were plans to move forward with a TRUE film interpretation of the character.  Ryan Reynolds spoke openly and honestly about the character and his future, and has previously expressed his passion for  the character.  Basically, he said that “Deadpool” from the movie was not what he considered to be Deadpool.  He was approached by superstar producer at FOX Lauren Shuler Donner about portraying the character again; this time in his own film.  Reynolds response was, to his credit as a true fan of the character, “only if it remains true to who and what Deadpool is.”  I guess that FOX is okay with Reynolds’ demands, because they are working on a script right now, and Reynolds is excited about finally getting to play the real Wade Wilson, the merc with the mouth, Deadpool!

“Look, I’m into any role in which I get to kick Captain America in the nuts…
Yeah, the script is in the works. That’s about all I can really say. They’re actively hashing it out… Well, I’m intimately involved with it. We’re just trying to break a story right now and figure out who the villain is going to be and all that stuff. But, it’s going to be just like the comic books. I’m gonna have a messed up face and you may see some flashbacks of Wade earlier in his life, but primarily what you see is what you get in the comics and that’s the goal. And there is no better place to draw material from than the comics which are incredible.”

Kick Captain America in the nuts.  Classic Deadpool!  I was excited by his responses, yet skeptical. He is saying all the right things, but this is FOX we are talking about, and they haven’t produced a quality hero film in years and still have not been able to stay true to any character’s origins and comic book roots.  But this is different.  Ryan Reynolds is the only man to play the merc with the mouth, and FOX knows it.  He played Wade Wilson in the Wolverine film to perfection, and fans saw that and loved that.  Reynolds has enough star power to draw audiences to a film about a character they may not necessarily know too much about.  But most importantly, the comic book writers for a well respected Deadpool series have described Deadpool himself as “A mix between Ryan Reynolds and a shar pei.”  There simply is no other to play the character at this time.  So with the studio needing Reynolds involvement for the film to make any money, the savy Deadpool fan in Reynolds knows he has leverage.  He has said that he will NOT play the character again on film unless it is a true interpretation.  I believe him.  He knows his Deadpool, and he seems to have a true affinity for the cult-hero/mercenary that has a deeper and darker story to tell than most realize.  The origin story is full of great, made for movie characters, so who do you include?  Reynolds has made no secret of the fact that he loves Cable as well, and wanted him in the Deadpool flick, but that seems unlikely now.  Here is what Reynolds is thinking about Cable, and other potential characters for the film:

“We’ll see. That is all being discussed,” grinned Reynolds, “I’m hoping Cable will be in it. Look, I’ve made no secret that I love that character.  I also love some of the more preliminary characters at the beginning of the series. I like Ajax — that’s an easier character to put in. And Black Tom,” he revealed. “I think there’s a lot of different villains [we’re considering]; you could do a whole bunch of villains in [the first film], or you could just have Deadpool going up against one guy. We’ll see.”

Recently, Reynolds has been doing press for his recent RomCom with Sandra Bullock, The Proposal.  He sat down with MTV recently, and of course, he had to answer questions about Deadpool, and his responses will NOT disappoint you:

“I get to be the authentication police, in a weird way.  To their credit — the studio’s credit — they want to make an authentic ‘Deadpool’ movie; they want to make it as close to the source material as possible.”

Reynolds also added that he and the studio have already agreed to some key terms. “He’s going to be the Merc with the Mouth, [we're going to give] all those answers that everyone wants. He’s going to have the scarred-up face, he’s going to be in the suit — and, it’s going to be incredible.”

Fans should be excited about this news.  Yes, the realist in me realizes that we probably won’t get a perfect Deadpool film.  The story, if done properly, would have to be R rated.  Reynolds has said that himself, but that won’t happen.  We know that no one wants to make an R rated hero film because it would seriously hurt revenue earned from marketing to children.  But I do believe that Reynolds has enough pull to get us a Deadpool film that remains true to the intent of the character, and it will be as close as we will ever get.  It is possible to do a Deadpool film with a PG-13 rating, and still have it be dark.  Not dark enough, but it will be good.  Look at The Dark Knight.  They pushed the boundaries of what you could get away with in that rating group, and that will be a good thing for Deadpool fans.  Studios will be willing to make another movie along those lines as far as tone because of the massive amounts of cash it made, and all the merchandising money made on top of that.  Am I saying Deadpool could pull in TDK money?  Let’s not get ahead of ourselves!  But the film shouldn’t need to be a big budget extravaganza, so it shouldn’t be difficult to make enough money to warrant a sequel.  And for all you skeptics out there who have never read a Deadpool comic, let me tell you that Deadpool is a fan fav for a reason – he is a character that the public will LOVE.  He has wit and a surprising amount of charm for a hideously scarred guy, and he has the skills to amaze people on screen.  Deadpool is a bad-ass.  The film should be full of acrobatic sword and gun play, and with plenty of big explosions and big laughs.  People will love it. 

Right now, I’m cautiously optimistic about this film, only because of Ryan Reynolds involvement.  He was great as Wade, and he will be great as Deadpool.  I trust that he will get enough essential Deadpool facts into the film that fans can enjoy the film.  It won’t be perfect, but I’d bet it will be entertaining.  Can’t ask for more than that!