Deadpool
Normally, I don’t like to report on unconfirmed rumors. But reading this story made me giddy with excitement, so much so that I had to bring it to you guys. Just remember, this is unconfirmed but it comes from a reliable source. Recently, there were stories about extensive re-shoots for X-Men Origins: Wolverine were taking place in Canada. Hugh Jackman himself confirmed this through a statement to AICN. Well, word is that Ryan Reynolds was up north taking part in the re-shoots for the film. For those of you who don’t know, Reynolds will star as Wade Wilson a.k.a Deadpool in the upcoming film. Apparently, the studio wanted to give Deadpool more screen time opposite Wolverine. Perhaps they filmed a little Wolverine/Deadpool throwdown? I can dream, can’t I? For those of you who know nothing about Deadpool (shame on you!) let me drop a little knowledge on you:
Deadpool is sometimes depicted as a mercenary or antihero; he appears in books published by Marvel Comics, originally in the X-Men family of titles, but branching out into the more mainstream Marvel Universe in recent years. Nicknamed the “Merc with a Mouth”, Deadpool is a high-tech mercenary known for his wisecracks, black comedy, and satirical pop-culture references. Like the X-Men’s Wolverine, Deadpool is the product of the Canadian government’s paramilitary Weapon X program, although his place of birth is unknown. After Weapon X cured his terminal cancer by implementing a regenerative “healing factor” extracted from Wolverine, Deadpool is left disfigured and mentally unstable. . The character is well known for his supporting cast, including his prisoner/den mother Blind Al and his best friend Weasel. Deadpool became an action comedy parody of the cosmic drama, antihero-heavy comics of the time. The ongoing series gained cult popularity for its unorthodox main character and its balance of angst and pop culture slapstick.
For a more complete history of the character, check out the Marvel Universe page for Deadpool here. Yes, it’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Deadpool, so I really want this news to be true. But I am also a realist, so I can counter my love of the character with a desire for the truth. So, let’s look at this for a second. The rumors of Deadpool being involved in the re-shoots has past history and some cold hard facts supporting it. Firstly, comic fans will tell you that Deadpool and Wolverine have a history together. A violent one. The two characters, both key members of the Weapon X program, have fought many times before. So in that way, it would make sense to add more Deadpool footage.
Secondly (and most importantly) is the talk of a Deadpool solo film. The character has a strong following, but he is not a widely known character like Spiderman, or even a lesser known character like Iron Man was before the successful film. So if the studio wants to go on to make a Deadpool film, it would be a good idea to feature him prominently in the Wolverine film, because that is a mainstream character that is widely known and extremely popular, and the movie will more than likely will have a big showing at the box office. Feature Deadpool prominently, make him look cool to the audiences seeing Wolverine, and it will be much easier to sell the Deadpool film. For anyone thinking there will not be a Deadpool film, I offer this as proof of my theory: If Deadpool is only meant to be a secondary character in the film, why would they have cast a big name star like Ryan Reynolds? Why not cast a relative unknown and save money? I believe he was cast in the role of the Merc with a Mouth because they are planning the Deadpool film, and they need an actor that can carry a film and play the part well. Additionally, Deadpool has recently seen a resurgence in the comic world as the new Deadpool monthly is receiving a lot of positive buzz in the world of comics. There has never been a better time to do a Deadpool film.
You can bet that if this is confirmed to be true, or we do see a lot of Deadpool in Wolverine, we WILL see the solo film. And I will be covering it completely! At the very least, this rumor will give fanboys all over the web plenty to talk about, and me plenty to dream about. Deadpool fans are all over the web, and now, you can bet they are blogging away on this very story right now.