I’m sure you all remember that time when 20th Century Fox and producer Tom Rothman completely ruined the character Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine! What they did with Deadpool in that movie will go down in history as one of the biggest Hollywood brain farts of all time! I still can’t believe the creative team actually handled Deadpool like that.
Luckily, Ryan Reynolds managed to create the opportunity to make a Deadpool movie that is actually true to who the character is. It took the leak of some test footage and the rally of fans to actually make that happen. Luckily it all worked out, and Reynolds and his team managed to make a couple of great films with a third one on the way!
Liev Schreiber also starred in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and took on the role of Victor Creed, aka Sabertooth. He recently did an interview with GQ, and he addressed the film and mentioned how happy he is to see that Reynolds was able to correct the Deadpool character. he said:
“I mean Ryan did such a great job with that transition [to the Deadpool movies], ’cause I felt like it was, in many ways, so antithetical to who that character was in Origins. But Im glad that Ryan was able to correct that mistake.”
One of the main reasons fans were unhappy was the film’s portrayal of Deadpool’s character is because they stripped him of his personality! They stripped him of everything that made him Deadpool! In the comics, Deadpool is known for his witty and irreverent personality, constantly breaking the fourth wall and engaging in humorous banter. However, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, when Deadpool showed up at film’s climax, he was depicted as a mute, mind-controlled assassin devoid of the humor and charm that fans loved. This drastic alteration of the character’s core traits left fans feeling betrayed and robbed of the essence that made Deadpool so beloved.
Then there was Deadpool’s appearance, as he was given a completely different design, with his mouth sewn shut and a mishmash of powers taken from other mutants. This portrayal was a far cry from the visually striking and true-to-source material depiction that fans were hoping for. Ugh.
I’m just grateful that Deadpool is now in the right hands and that it’s been such a wildly successful franchise.
