Contrary to what the IMDB listings – or your arguments – says, we’ve never really seen the character of Deadpool on screen. That mouthless person with the head like an upside down butternut who showed up at the end X-Men Origins: Wolverine was nothing like the comic book character that fans had come to know and love.
Which is why everybody has been so eager to see Deadpool finally done right in his own crazy, balls to fourth wall movie. Something that’s stuck been in development for ages, but which, apparently, is closer to getting made now.
Speaking to Yahoo! Movies, Ryan Reynolds, who played the character the first time and would be reprising his role again for the solo movie, spoke about the more true to the character direction of the movie, as well as the chances of it getting made.
“[In] its current iteration the movie’s actually very small. There’s minimal impact to the studio, which is the way we’re kind of presenting it to them. We’re saying ‘Look, the budget is minimal. Therefore, can we do this the way it should be done?’ Which unfortunately needs a Rated R or it needs those elements.”
“The script is probably available online, it leaked. But it’s very meta, I mean the character knows he’s in a movie, he knows he’s in a comic book. He names studio executives in the script. So, it’s kind of a risky property. But, you know, we’ll see. It’s actually, within the last couple of weeks, taken a few very, very small tiptoes forward. “
“[Would it get made] in our lifetime? Yeah, I think so. I think if I were a betting man it’ll get made, eventually. I mean it’s just been developed to high heaven. It has great people around it, so we’ll see.”
Now while that may not be the most positive endorsement of Deadpool‘s cinematic imminence ever uttered, the film’s director Tim Miller is a bit more optimistic saying that all the prep work is down, and that they’re now “closer to getting a greenlight” than they were a few months ago.
“We will never give up! Deadpool is still alive and we’re just waiting for the studio to embrace what an amazingly f***ing awesome film this would be. Ryan is ready, I am ready, the fans are more than ready, we just need that elusive green light.”
Big studios are inherently risk-averse, so while I would love nothing more than for this movie – which does indeed sound “f***ing awesome” – to get made, I’m being cautiously optimistic about it all. With Fox, under the guidance of Mark Millar, seemingly also trying to build their own cohesive comic book universe, Deadpool could represent the slightly more dark, (im)mature corner that of that universe to great effect. I just have a feeling that we may still be a ways off until we see that happen.
Here are the full original video interviews with Reynolds and Miller.
Last Updated: November 4, 2013
Admiral Chief Ninja
November 4, 2013 at 10:21
Here’s hoping
James Francis
November 4, 2013 at 11:30
Three problems here. First, obviously, the R-Rating. I can’t see Marvel go for that. Second, Reynolds’ track record of late has not been great, so the studio must be worried about him headlining this. Third, while fans may want to see Deadpool on screen, he could be a bit too much and too strange for mainstream audiences. He simply may not sell well – and fans alone do not carry these films. That much has become very obvious.