Technically, there was a character named “Deadpool” played by Ryan Reynolds, in the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Most fans would call that character unrecognizable, from the weird mismashed powers to the fact that the “Merc with a Mouth” had his mouth sewn shut.
Well, the director of that film, Gavin Hood, did cast Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson, and as it turns out, he agrees with fans that Deadpool, staying close to the comicbook source material, did things better.
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“I think the character works so well now, because the character is allowed to be who the character really is, unencumbered by, you know, PG-13 requirements and a great deal of marketing debate,” Hood told Cinemablend. “I think the fact that the filmmakers kind of made that film below the radar — and I happen to know a little bit, only because my production designer from Ender’s Game, Sean Haworth, is a fantastic designer, was the designer on Deadpool. I remember when he was making the film, it was just a little bit more below the radar initially. And more credit to the filmmakers and to Ryan, that they took control of their character and got on and let Ryan do the film. Deadpool is a motor mouth, foul mouth character, and it’s very difficult with these big movies to, when you have to work within certain parameters that are set by, byโฆ” Cinemablend chimed in, “Studio heads?” and he replied, “Thank you. Thank you.”