'Deadpool 2': Ryan Reynolds To Receive Writing Credit

Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds will receive a writing credit — his first — on Deadpool 2, as revealed by its official site.

WRITTEN BY Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick & Ryan Reynolds

Reynolds, who also produces the film alongside Simon Kinberg (Logan, X-Men: Dark Phoenix) and X-Men franchise producer Lauren Shuler Donner, is credited as a writer alongside returning screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.

The "&" signifies Reynolds co-wrote the Deadpool 2 script in conjunction with Reese and Wernick instead of working on the script independently (indicated by an "and" credit, per Writers Guild of America rules).

It was Reynolds, who first portrayed the wisecracking merc with a mouth as a silent abomination in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, who helped launch a more comic book faithful iteration of Deadpool in 2016.

Reynolds championed the character and his freakishly accurate portrayal turned Deadpool into the next A-list franchise in February 2016: the R-rated X-Men spinoff was embraced by both critics and audiences and earned over $783 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.

Deadpool director Tim Miller exited the sequel later that year following reported creative differences with Reynolds, who now wields more creative control over his distinguishable franchise. Despite the clash, Miller, Reynolds and studio Fox parted ways on good terms: Miller is attached to next direct the in-the-wings Terminator 6.

Commenting on the departure, Reynolds told GQ he was "sad to see him off the film," adding Miller is "brilliant and nobody worked harder on Deadpool than he did."

David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde) takes over for Miller as Deadpool 2 introduces series newcomers Josh Brolin as grizzled time-traveling mutant Cable and Zazie Beetz as Domino.

The murderous mutant will be joined by X-Force with the addition of new superhumans played by Terry Crews, Shioli Kutsuna, and Julian Dennison, who get in on the action alongside returning Deadpool fan-favorites Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), metal-skinned X-Man Colossus (voice of Stefan Kapicic) and taxi driver Dopinder (Karan Soni).

Deadpool 2 opens May 18.