Ryan Reynolds and Deadpool are so intertwined at this point, it's probably hard to believe that there ever existed a time where the two lived separate from one another. The Merc with the Mouth has the exact same sarcastic persona that Reynolds has cultivated in countless films. And yet, it was an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie that gave Rob Liefeld the inspiration to create Deadpool several decades ago.
Rob Liefeld was a guest on the latest ReelBlend podcast, where he talked at length about his beloved mercenary, and the movie sequel based on his exploits. And in the conversation, he talked about how the movie Twins gave him the idea that led to Deadpool being an offshoot of Weapon X, better known as Wolverine. In the comedy, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito are genetically engineered siblings. Twins, even, born from the same scientific experiment to create the perfect man. DeVito ends up becoming the leftovers, spared from the creation of Schwarzenegger's "perfect" man. And, as Liefeld told us on the podcast:
That movie meant a lot to me. ... I said, 'Wolverine in this scenario is Arnold.' He's Weapon X. Weapon 10. I said to Marvel, 'Do we have this correct? Weapon X is Weapon 10?' And they said yes. And I said, 'We've seen not 1 through 9?' They said, 'No, we haven't seen 1 through 9.' Then I said, 'Deadpool is that. He's Danny DeVito. He's burned, he's scarred, he looks like shit. Because they hadn't refined it yet.' And Marvel... I kid you not, they were like, 'Yeah whatever, go with it! Cool!'
This allowed Rob Liefeld to tie Deadpool's origins to Wolverine and the Weapon X program. And as the comic book creator notes, it's because of that decision that Deadpool is even IN X-Men: Origins -- Wolverine in the first place, which in turn led to the eventual creation of Deadpool and Deadpool 2.
Isn't it funny how the world works?
Twins has a decent history in the career path of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The chiseled action star had proven himself in a steady stream of violent thrillers such as The Terminator, Predator, Raw Deal, Commando and The Running Man. But while there is humor in those movies, Twins might be the first movie to rest heavily on Arnold's ability to make audiences laugh. Having Danny DeVito helped. But Twins created more opportunities like 1990's Kindergarten Cop, 1994's Junior and more.
And now we know that Twins helped inspire Rob Liefeld to invent Deadpool.
Listen to our full conversation with Liefeld on the latest episode of ReelBlend, a weekly entertainment podcast hosted by Sean O'Connell, Kevin McCarthy and Jake Hamilton:
And see Deadpool 2 while it's in theaters!
