The past seven days have been fantastic for all those looking forward to Deadpool. Last Friday, lead Ryan Reynolds posted an image giving us our first look at him in the costume, the movie’s synopsis came out several days later, and on Wednesday fans were treated to a hilarious April Fool’s video confirming that the film will be rated R. With filming only having just begun, it will be awhile until we see any trailers or clips for the film, but according to the man who created him, Deadpool will be a tremendous offering for the superhero film genre, especially with Reynolds as the titular character.
In a chat with Comicbook.com, Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld said Ryan Reynolds will own the role of the Merc With The Mouth in the same way that Robert Downey Jr. "co-opted" Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe back in 2008. According to Liefeld:
The Tony Stark I grew up with wasn't as snappy and as quippy as Downey Jr. made him, but now I only think of his performance. That is what is going to happen here with Ryan and Deadpool. You can see it happening already. It's a complete ownership of a role that we are all going to rally around. This Deadpool film will establish Deadpool on a global scale.
Liefeld went on to say that amidst all of Deadpool’s craziness and violence, the film will also have "tremendous heart and soul," and said it would establish a unique tone for the X-Men franchise similar to what Guardians of the Galaxy did for the MCU. It’s bold to compare your movie to arguably two of the most successful superhero movies of all time, both critically and commercially. However, it’s always a good sign when a creator is this excited about their character being adapted properly for the big screen. Liefeld, who has been involved with the film’s development for years, obviously has faith in what’s coming our way next year.
Although Reynolds first portrayed Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, with the exception of his first five minutes of screen time, the character devolved into a living weapon with multiple mutant abilities and his mouth sewn shut. Nothing even close to the wise-cracking mercenary we’ve come to love from the comics. If you want to get an idea of what Reynolds will be like as Deadpool, just watch the animated test footage that was released last year which ended up getting the film officially announced soon after. Then look at Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark and see if Liefeld’s comparison is applicable.
Deadpool will be talking nonsense and causing all sorts of mayhem when his solo film is released on February 12, 2016.
