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Deadpool has always known that he’s in a movie. Ever since the release of his first film in 2016, the Merc with a Mouth has demanded to be the center of attention, if only because he can see beyond the fourth wall. Even when teaming up with X-Force in Deadpool 2 and with Logan in Deadpool & Wolverine, Wade Wilson makes everything about him.
So it’s a bit of a surprise to hear that Ryan Reynolds wants Deadpool to take a step back. Dropping by the Today Show, Reynolds admitted that he’s working on new things for Wilson, but in a different role. “I have some stuff written, but I don’t think I’m going to center him again,” said Reynolds. “I think he’s a supporting character. He’s a guy who’s great in a group.”
That’s good news for people who aren’t completely won over by Deadpool’s schtick. While all three of his films have been hits and the character has consistently carried his own comic since 1993, Deadpool isn’t for everyone. His fourth-wall breaking and winking after each inappropriate line can get tiresome, especially when tied so closely to Reynold’s public persona.
Furthermore, Deadpool & Wolverine felt like a capper on that version of a movie Deadpool, as the film surveyed the history of the 20th Century Fox Marvel heroes and ended by sequestering them in their own reality away from the MCU. With Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars apparently destroying that reality and introducing new X-Men into the MCU proper, Deadpool’s going to have to find a new role, at least if Reynolds wants to keep playing him.
Of course, change has generally been good for Deadpool. The character debuted in 1991’s The New Mutants #98, written by Fabian Nicieza and plotted and penciled by Rob Liefeld. Liefeld imagined him as little more than an obvious rip-off of DC’s Deathstroke the Terminator, which is more or less how he remained for the first several years, until he finally called out the editor of his comic during a battle with Daredevil baddie Bullseye in 1997’s Deadpool #28, written by Joe Kelly and penciled by Pete Woods. After Kelly, other writers such as Christopher Priest and Gail Simone expanded upon Deadpool’s awareness, finally distinguishing him from Slade Wilson over at DC Comics.
That meta-awareness from the comics helped make Deadpool a smash in theaters. But the comics also have shown how Deadpool works in a group. For those less interested in the winking and nudging, Deadpool was never better than in Rick Remender and Jerome Opeña’s run on Uncanny X-Force in 2011. Not only did his constant yammering and fourth-wall breaks work well with teammates such as Psylocke and Fantomex, who dismissed his knowledge of the readers as a side effect of his insanity, but the series had a creative and stomach-churning use of his healing factor, when Wade kept a famished Archangel alive by feeding the winged mutant pieces of his own flesh.
If Reynolds can allow Wade Wilson to mutate into more of a team-player, then the character can evolve beyond the one-man-show he’s been and contribute to the MCU. And if Reynolds can’t and audiences reject the character, well, Deadpool knows he’s in a movie, so he knows who to blame.
The post Ryan Reynolds Is Going to Put Deadpool Where He Belongs, As a Supporting Character appeared first on Den of Geek.
