A couple months ago a test reel for a potential Deadpool movie leaked—accidentally on purpose—onto the internet. It featured Ryan Reynolds as the talkative mutant mercenary Deadpool (aka Wade Wilson), the beloved character that was so brutally murdered by X-Men: Origins: Wolverine (Punctuation!). But in the test reel—since pulled down—Deadpool looked how he’s supposed to look, wearing a head-to-toe red and black skin-tight suit with a mask. I’ve always thought of Deadpool’s look as “superhero in a gimp suit”. And he did what he’s supposed to do—kill a bunch of people with swords while talking directly to the audience.
I thought the test reel was pretty good. The writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick of Zombieland fame, got Deadpool’s sarcasm and wit, Reynolds nailed the motor-mouthed delivery, and the action was slick. The reel was directed by Tim Miller, co-founder of VFX house Blur Studio, and The Hollywood Reporter states that Fox is going ahead with a feature film which will be directed by Miller, too. Interestingly, Reynolds is not yet officially on board the movie he’s been lobbying to make for years.
The Deadpool announcement was part of a larger slate shake-up from Fox. Michael Fassbender’s Assassin’s Creed adaptation was kicked to 2016 and the Fantastic Four reboot was relocated from June to Creed’s vacated August 7 spot, no doubt hoping for a repeat of the success Guardians of the Galaxy had in the same frame this year. The Deadpool movie, meanwhile, will be released in February 2016. I hate that, because February is a graveyard, but if it means they’ll make an R-rated Deadpool movie, I’ll take it in trade.
