As it celebrates is tenth anniversary, Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind Deadpool…
Deadpool was one of those IPs that was perpetually stuck in development for the longest duration. Fast forward to ten years later, and the property has transformed into one of the most lucrative superhero franchises out there and there’s no knowing what’ll happen next with the character now officially part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This write up looks back at the meta-aware, fourth-wall breaking antihero’s humble beginnings…
The property was lost in development hell for the longest time…
To say Blade: Trinity had a troublesome shoot would be massive understatement. First time director David S. Goyer, who played an integral role in crafting the modern version of Blade had a hard time during production due to the on-set conflicts that he and star Wesley Snipes had. Probably the only light at the end of the tunnel was that Goyer had the opportunity to work alongside young, up-and-coming Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds. The performer developed interest in the Merc with the Mouth after learning that in the comics Deadpool referred to his appearance as “Ryan Reynolds crossed with a Shar-Pei”.
By February 2004 Reynolds and Goyer were developing a Deadpool film for New Line Cinema. Jeff Katz, an executive over at New Line, even championed the idea since he thought that Reynolds was born to play that role. However, due to the rights issues between 20th Century Fox and their existing X-Men properties the project did not move forward. But the following year, Reynolds learned that Fox had expressed interest in developing a film featuring the character set within their X-Men universe. In 2009 Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool officially debuted in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The movie’s portrayal of the character, however, deviated from the source material in one crucial way – they sewed his mouth shut.
After the success of X-Men Origins: Wolverine Fox was convinced that they should produce a solo Deadpool flick with Reynolds attached, that saw the character embrace his trademark irreverent humor and fourth-wall breaking shenanigans. With this in mind in 2010 Fox hired Zombieland writer duo Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, to craft a script that would do justice to the character and then some. The studio even hired Tim Miller to helm the effort in April 2011 but of course destiny intervened in the form of commercial and critical failure that was Green Lantern.
The disappointing debut of Green Lantern gave Fox executives cold feet and they rushed to reconfigure Deadpool into a more family friendly PG-13 rated affair produced on a lower budget. The studio then gave Miller some money to churn out some test footage and the guy did just that, using his animation company Blur Studio and Reynold’s voice acting talents. But the studio weren’t too satisfied and shelved the project temporarily.
…Until things turned around and the project moved forwards
Following the success of Marvel Studios’ The Avengers in 2012 Fox once again considered revisiting the IP and including the character in an Avengers-esque team up as opposed to flying solo. At different stages of the development process acclaimed filmmakers like David Fincher and James Cameron, who were friends with Tim Miller and had read the script spoke on behalf of the project but to no avail. And then… the unthinkable happened. The test footage created by Tim Miller and Blur Studios leaked online in July 2014.
This footage, which was pretty much recreated beat by beat for the feature film proper, received an overwhelming positive response from fans and casual viewers. Fox realizing they have an opportunity in their hands officially green-lit the project for a release date of February 16th, 2016. During initial interviews Reynolds proclaimed that director Tim Miller may have leaked the footage but in 2025 during the Toronto International Film Festival the actor revealed that it was indeed he that leaked the footage back in 2014.
The script for the movie was in a constant state of flux throughout production
Deadpool’s script, which was penned by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick was in a constant state of change throughout production because the cast were always encouraged to give their creative inputs and the writers also had to be up-to-date with the pop-culture references mentioned in the screenplay, throughout development. This included a lot of self-deprecating humor levelled at Ryan Reynold’s past superhero flicks like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Green Lantern. The script underwent a major last minute revision because Fox cut the production budget by $7- $8 million, just 48 hours prior to giving it the official go-ahead, and this meant rewriting around nine pages, full of action set pieces and the like, into something more ‘budget friendly’.
Ryan Reynolds bulked up so much that he didn’t require additional suit padding
Ryan Reynolds’ commitment to making Deadpool was certainly unparalleled. The performer had been involved with the project since it was in the discussion phase back in 2004. The guy even went the extra mile to pay writer Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick from his own pocket when Fox refused to pay them for the additional inputs they gave during filming. To better embody the physicality of Deadpool, Reynolds trained with celebrity physical trainer Don Saladino using high-intensity, five-day per week workout routines. However, by the time shooting commenced Reynolds had bulked up so much that the Deadpool costume (which had interior muscle padding) proved to be a tight fit, and in the end this layer had to be removed. Reynolds even underwent intense sword play training with a master swordsman to prepare for the role. Interestingly this is Reynolds fifth time in a comic book movie counting Blade: Trinity, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Green Lantern and R.I.P.D. and the second time playing Wade Wilson. Lucky for us, the second time became a charm.
Negasonic Teenage Warhead was chosen for her cool sounding name
Due to Fox not having rights to some of the characters featured in the X-Men comics, the Deadpool writers only had a small gallery of characters to choose from when crafting the script. And this embarrassing situation was referenced in hilarious meta fashion when Deadpool visits Xavier’s school and Reynolds’s utters the improvised line, “It’s funny that I only ever see two of you. It’s almost like the studio couldn’t afford another X-Men”. The writers then settled on Negasonic Teenage Warhead played by Brianna Hildebrand, since they “liked her name better”. The character’s powerset was also changed up for the movie, because they felt that having explosive powers would fit more with her name as opposed to being a precognitive telepath like she was in the comics. But this change required meant that the producers had to ask Marvel’s permission to do so. So, director Tim Miller reached out to Marvel Studios’ head honcho Kevin Feige and negotiated a deal – allowing a changed powerset in exchange for Fox giving the rights to Ego The Living Planet to be used in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
The unconventional opening credits was originally a placeholder
That’s right folks. That hilarious asf opening credits was initially a placeholder during the production of Deadpool. But the director liked the parody titles so much that he decided to keep it for the end product. Therefore, instead of a conventional opening credit sequence, that lists out the names of the talent involved, the cast and crew of the movie are all identified by epithets like “God’s perfect idiot” accompanied by a shot of Reynolds’ cover photo for Peoples’ Magazine, “a British Villain” instead of Ed Skrien’s name and “a hot chick” for Morena Baccarin’s name. As an added bonus, since no actual names were mentioned during the opening credits, the filmmakers and producers didn’t really have to abide by guild rules regarding cast and crew during the opening credits.
The character of Colossus was revamped for the movie
In Fox’s original X- Men films – X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand – David Cudmore played the physically imposing superhero character of Colossus. However, Cudmore turned down the offer to play the same because the idea of providing the motion capture for Colossus and have his voice dubbed over by someone else didn’t sit well with the actor. Because of this the character was revamped for the Deadpool flick with Canadian stuntman Andre Tricoteux functioning as the body double of Colossus on set, with Serbian actor Stefan Kapičić providing the dialogue for the character. Even the “chrome-y” look of Cudmore’s Colossus was ditched for a different aesthetic. The Deadpool VFX crew settled on the look of cold rolled steel for the character’s physique while his hair was modelled after the darker hued hot rolled steel.
The film’s co-stars truly committed themselves to their respective roles
Morena Baccarin is no stranger to the world of comic book superheroes and had previously lent her voice acting talents to DC Universe animated efforts such as Son of Batman and Batman: Bad Blood. In addition, she even played Jim Gordan’s love interest, Dr. Leslie Thompkins in the TV show Gotham. To play the role of Vanessa, Baccarin insisted that the costume and makeup department do away with the conventional prostitute look they had initially designed for the character and go for a less traditional look. Ed Skrein, who is the dastardly villain of the piece, did most of his stunts and worked extra hard to effectively pull off the action sequences he had with Reynolds. Gina Carano who plays an artificial enhanced mutant named Angel Dust, tried her damnedest to be comic book accurate by wearing yellow contact lenses but the make up department tempered her enthusiasm by saying she’d look like ‘something outta the Twilight movies’ if she did.
Deadpool’s scarred appearance was the result of 6 hours in the makeup chair
Deadpool’s scarred appearance in the source material differed from comic to comic, with some artists depicting him as a rotting corpse while others opted for less graphic interpretations of his injuries. Director Tim Miller wanted the scarring to be “fucking horrible”, in order to justify Deadpool’s anger in the story. But makeup designer Bill Corso went for a disfigured look that retained Reynold’s boyish charm and most of his good looks. Corso actively avoided emulating the super scarred look of Freddy Krueger and instead sought inspiration in some of the makeup work done for Sin City. For the scene where Deadpool’s character is fully naked, it took over 6 hours of hard work to apply the full body makeup on Reynolds.
Box-office success, solid reviews, award wins & the birth of a franchise
Due to the budgetary constraints the production had, Reynolds & the folks over at Fox had to be very creative about how they utilized their limited marketing budget and came up with more economical, Deadpool-centered marketing strategies such as unique TV spots, non-traditional billboards and irreverent promotional tie-ins with Viacom and Super Bowl. This unconventional marketing campaign received much praise from folks in the industry and even received acknowledgement come awards season.
Produced on a budget of $58 million, Deadpool went on to make a whopping $782.6 million at the worldwide box-office, becoming the highest grossing R rated flick, dethroning 2003’s The Matrix Reloaded. The movie received widespread critical acclaim upon its release and as of writing holds a respectable 85% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 345 reviews and an average rating of 7.1/10. Michael O’ Sullivan of The Washington Post called the effort a, “voraciously self-aware comedy” whilst Alonso Duralde of The Wrap said Deadpool, “shouldn’t work, but it absolutely does”.
During awards season Deadpool received nominations at the following year’s Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, MTV Movie Awards and many others. The resounding success of the first outing certainly gave Fox confidence in the IP and immediately fast tracked the development of Deadpool 2 for the year 2018. The sequel proved to be a bigger commercial and critical hit than its predecessor but the development of the third outing was delayed indefinitely due to the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney.
After a lengthy hiatus Deadpool & Wolverine was released in 2024, going on to make a staggering $1.3 billion at the worldwide box-office and becoming the highest grossing R-rated flick of all time. Not bad for an IP that was once rejected by studios for being a risky property, eh? And now that Deadpool is officially part of the MCU, there’s no knowing when we’ll see the character pop up next, but one thing is certain…the fun stuff is just starting.
What are your thoughts on Deadpool? Let us know on our socials @FlickeringMyth…
Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
