Why Deadpool Works As A Comedy According To Ryan Reynolds

Many things factored into Deadpool's immense success for Fox, at the box office, in the view of critics, and more importantly in the view of fans. The passion from those who made it, including star Ryan Reynolds, was palpable. The action was brutal and fast, and true to the comics. The violence, the language, and the in-your-face straight-forward nature that only the R Rating could allow was key. But the comedy; the comedy was quotable, it was genuinely hilarious, and it kept fans going in-between the major action set pieces.

Reynolds said the comedy of Deadpool worked for a simple reason, too: it was basically his own style of comedy.

"The best comedy, in my opinion, has to be grounded in some form of truth. The character Deadpool is my alter ego," he told THR in a recent interview. "I don't want to sound esoteric, but I can channel that guy in a way I just can't seem to channel anything else. In terms of his sensibilities and certainly his sense of humor, I feel like we were born at the end of the same spectrum. It's a very odd situation."

That didn't mean it was easy to make the comedy work, though.

"I wouldn't characterize it as an easy role to play because the great hoax of Deadpool is that there's actually great dramatic tension that surrounds all of the comedy in the movie. I don't think we could have gotten those comedic payoffs if audiences weren't invested emotionally in the character. When the movie opened, we'd start to hear people say, 'That was the funniest movie I've ever seen.'"

So, it's his personal similarities, but also the balance of drama and comedy.

Deadpool 2 will hopefully share that with the first film, despite some turmoil in the production after director Tim Miller left the project, reportedly due to some creative differences with Reynolds - something neither man has commented much on, aside from prepared statements saying they both wish each other the best. Fox is reportedly lining Miller up for another film, and Reynolds says that Deadpool 2 "is on track, and that's all that matters at the moment" in the interview.

"Admittedly, I've never taken ownership of anything the way I did with this. We had this almost unfair advantage because we had a character who is a total misfit, a f***ing rascal, a hedonist who breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience directly. I mean, that right there is a marketing dream."

The actor said playing Deadpool was his destiny, which he knew after the first issue of the comic that he read in 2004.

"When I opened it, the story started with someone asking Deadpool what he looked like under the mask and he said he looked like a cross between Ryan Reynolds and a shar-pei. It was destiny, and I fell in love with him instantly."

Deadpool 2 is scheduled for January 2018 release.