Ryan Reynolds has been trying to get a Deadpool movie made for damn near forever. Now that it’s officially moving forward, there is a very vocal, dedicated fan contingent out there waiting to rip the movie apart for any flaw. But Reynolds thinks they have the right team and approach in place to satisfy even the most hardcore fanboys, and he's ready to brag a little.
Talking to the Shortlist about his new movie The Voices, Reynolds spoke about the upcoming Deadpool movie and said:
I’m incredibly happy about it—we’ve got a director that understands that world, and writers with a slavish devotion to the canon of that character. That’s the most important aspect: it’s made in a way the most critical of fanboys could embrace.
There’s been talk of this for more than a decade, though at times it felt like it was never actually going to happen -- like Deadpool was one of those unmade movies that we were always going to discuss, but would never actually see materialize. But 20th Century Fox finally gave Deadpool the green light last fall, and things have been rolling ever since.
Reynolds played a version of the character back in 2009 in the poorly received X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Deadpool, and his alter ego Wade Wilson, is an assassin who wears a mask after being horribly disfigured, and has a penchant for sharp blades and quick wit, earning him the moniker "Merc with a Mouth." A part of the Weapon X program that plays so prominent a role in the history of characters like Wolverine, Deadpool has an accelerated healing factor, as well as a proficiency in various martial arts and mad marksman skills.
The director Reynolds talks about here is Tim Miller, who will make his feature-length directorial debut with Deadpool. He has only helmed a couple of shorts, but he has worked on the visual effects for movies like Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and video games like Star Wars: The Old Republic and Mass Effect 2.
In a case like this, that enthusiasm for the character and the world is going to go a long way, and it sounds like Miller has a solid idea of what he wants to do. He’s going to need that in order to keep a handle on the sarcasm and tone of the character, as well as the more meta elements. For example, Deadpool is known for pausing to break the fourth wall and directly address the audience.
There’s a lot of weird, cool stuff about Deadpool that makes him stand out from your usual anti-heroic superhero, but one element that they’re going to have to rein in is the violence. He is, after all, a brutal killer, and one thing that has fans ruffled already is that Deadpool is reported to be PG-13. Many worry that these constraints will hamstring what the movie can and can’t do, and you better believe fans are going to be watching Miller, Reynolds, and company like a hawk for any sign of trouble.
Deadpool also stars Firefly’s Morena Baccarin and former MMA fighter Gina Carano, and is scheduled to hit theaters on February 12, 2016.
