The Deadpool Movie Is Back on Track, and May Star Ryan Reynolds

Deadpool — a mercenary superhero with a huge following among comic-book fans — is finally getting his own movie. Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox just announced that the project is an official ‘go,’ and set a release date of Feb. 16, 2016.  Also known (in his non-masked identity) as Wade Wilson, the wisecracking but amoral hero-for-hire was played by Ryan Reynolds in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine (above) — and the actor is reportedly in talks to reprise the role in this project. Internet chatter about Reynolds' possible involvement spiked dramatically after two-year-old test footage (below) of Reynolds as the katana-wielding masked mercenary was released by a Hollywood F/X company in late July. In a recent interview with the Niagara Falls Review, Reynolds seemed gratified by the renewed interest in the long-gestating movie: “It’s neat that Twitter and Facebook and Instagram can move mountains when used in the right way”

Deadpool, who was introduced by Marvel in 1991, has had a intriguing trajectory over the past few decades: Initially conceived as a villain, he eventually became a wisecracking antihero. Like Wolverine, his powers include super-fast healing ability, though he's perhaps best known for his martial-arts acumen, particularly with his super-fast kitanas.

Should Reynolds officially land the role of Deadpool, it will be an opportunity for him to make amends for the disaster that was 2011’s Green Lantern. The big-screen adaptation of the popular DC character — the first in an intended franchise — was met with largely negative reviews, in part because Reynolds’ portrayal favored quips over heroics. The underwhelming response from both critics and fans is said to have lead to a mandate from studio execs that future DC movies take a more somber, even joke-free tone.  But in Deadpool, Reynolds may find a superhero more in sync with his off-kilter charms — there are plenty of suggestions that the character is mentally unstable, and writers often have him breaking the “fourth wall” and directly addressing readers (a trait that Reynolds himself said might be brought to the big-screen).

The still-untitled Deadpool movie will be directed by visual-effects Tim Miller; this will be his first feature film. In announcing the movie, the studio also said they will be shifting the release dates of two other films:  the Fantastic Four reboot will move from July 15, 2015 to August 7; and the movie version of the video game Assassin’s Creed, originally set for 2015, will be pushed back a year.

Photo credits: @Everett Collection, @Marvel