Ryan Reynolds Advises Parent to Lie to Child About Deadpool and Spider-Man

Rather than expose a young child to the graphic violence of Deadpool, actor Ryan Reynolds offered advice to a fan that they should put on a Spider-Man film for their child and merely lie to them about it being the Merc with a Mouth. In the years since he debuted, Deadpool has been featured in many mediums, with many of his adventures being relatively mundane. Reynolds’ take on the character in Deadpool and Deadpool 2, on the other hand, are much truer to the character’s origins, as he causes all manner of violent mayhem and let’s the expletives fly with everyone he encounters.

In response to a fan asking if their four-year-old child should be allowed to watch Deadpool, Reynolds replied, “No. Put on Spider-Man (from 2002) and tell him it’s Deadpool. It’s what I do with my kids. Remember to look him straight in the eye when you lie. Good luck.”

While there’s a major tonal difference between Spider-Man and Deadpool, their wise-cracking antics and suits do have some similarities, making it relatively easy to convince a young child that the Wall-Crawler is actually the assassin with a red and black suit.

The world of comic book movies have seen R-rated features in the past, but the debut of Deadpool in 2016 completely revolutionized the concept of delivering adult-oriented superhero adventures, as it went on to earn $783 million worldwide. Last year’s sequel saw similar success, taking in $785 million worldwide. Knowing the appeal of the characters to all ages, Deadpool 2 even earned a re-edited PG-13 release, titled “Once Upon a Deadpool.”

The success of the films have made it seem like a certainty that the franchise would continue, but Disney’s recent purchase of 20th Century Fox might have complicated the character’s future. Not only does the studio stick to PG-13 adventures for its superheroes, but only under rare occurrences has its subsidiaries released R-rated fare.

The big question everyone has is if Deadpool will continue to get R-rated solo adventures, or if he will be toned down to fall more in line with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Earlier this year, Variety detailed the situation, pointing out, “[Disney CEO Bob] Iger notes X-Men, Deadpool, Fantastic 4 are now under Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige’s control. Hear from sources that there are debates about whether Deadpool can move seamlessly between R-rated solo outings and PG-13 rated MCU movies.”

Stay tuned for details on Deadpool’s future.

Do you think we’ll ever see Deadpool and Spider-Man in the same film? Let us know in the comments below!