The fact that an R-rated Deadpool movie starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc With the Mouth is actually happening, is proof that occasionally we do actually get nice things. And although its sheer existence is good enough for most fans, there’s now some more good news to add to it.
THR is reporting that MMA star turned action movie star Gina Carano has joined the production, playing Angel Dust, who in the comics is a member of the Morlocks. No, not the group of creatures from HG Wells’ The Time Machine. I’m talking about the offshoot of mutants in the Marvel universe whose mutations are so physically different that they don’t blend in with humans easily. These Morlocks eke out a living in the sewers and tunnels under the streets, jealous and antagonistic towards the more “normal” mutants like Cyclops and Jean Grey who can fit in above ground with their showstopping looks. It’s an intriguing spin on the mutants’ normal “societal outcasts” scenario, as the X-Men now found themselves being the ones accused of being prejudiced and bigoted just because of how they looked.
Whether this means the statuesque Carano will need to cover up her cover girl looks in some form of makeup or prosthetics is uncertain, as the original character wasn’t exactly ghastly to look at. The stoic Angel Dust – her name a play on the street name for rage-inducing drug PCP – is able to consciously control her adrenal levels, granting her enhanced strength, speed and aggression. That certainly plays right into Carano’s strengths, as she’s shown that while her history as a professional MMA fighter makes her damn good in an action scene (see: Haywire, Fast & Furious 6), she’s not exactly the worlds most nuanced actress (see: Haywire, Fast & Furious 6). I’m just saying, it takes a lot to be out-acted by Vin Diesel.
Speaking of walking mountains of muscles, THR is also reporting that metal-skinned X-Man Colossus is also set to appear in Deadpool, officially making the first movie mutant to crossover to another franchise in Fox’s mutant universe. Colossus aka Piotr Rasputin has appeared in three of the X-Men movies thus far, played by Daniel Cudmore each time. Despite Colossus’ massive popularity in the comics, Cudmore was never given much to do in the movies except get covered in CG-layered metal skin and punch things really hard (although, even that was done damn impressively in X-Men: Days of Future Past). A leaked Deadpool script hit the internet a while back though, and in it Colossus has a much more expanded role, acting not just as the movie’s muscle but also quite often its humourous comic relief, much like Dave Bautista’s Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy. Whether Cudmore can pull that off or not is unknown as we’ve seen him do so little.
That of course also means that if they were to recast him with a better actor, audiences probably wouldn’t be too fussed, much like how Sabertooth was recast when he went from a grunting henchman in X-Men 1 to a central player in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Deadpool is being penned by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the writing duo behind the brilliant Zombieland, while visual effects maestro Tim Miller (who worked on everything from Scott Pilgrim to the “Mass Effect 2” video game) will be making his directing debut. The film will see the aforementioned Reynolds as Wade Wilson, a wise cracking assassin who is dying from cancer and agrees to undergo an experimental procedure trying the duplicate Weapon X program used to create Wolverine. The procedure leaves Wilson aka Deadpool horribly disfigured (maybe that’s where the Morlock angle will come in) and borderline insane but blessed with enhanced strength, speed, reflexes and a healing factor that can do miracles. The movie is scheduled for release February 12, 2016.
Last Updated: February 17, 2015
Axon1988
February 17, 2015 at 09:36
This indeed does seem like good news. I wonder how all this will pan out.