Deadpool is back.
When Ryan Reynolds first appeared as Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009, it was a complete snooze fest. As Weapon XI, he lacked character and depth for us to even remember him, and let’s not even go into how absolutely horrendous he looked.
But all that changed in 2016 when Deadpool became the headline of his own movie. It was goodbye Deadpool 2009 and hello to the wise-cracking, foul-mouthed Merc with the mouth. Reynolds’ second outing as Deadpool was refreshing. Unapologetic and with a morbid sense of humour, he reinvigorated the character that had been written off after his 2009 debut.
It’s a tall order to beat the first in irreverence, pop-culture references, violence and gore. But looking at the PR campaign for Deadpool 2 so far (did you watch the clip with David Beckham?), it looks like Deadpool’s second solo movie will be just as enjoyable, if not more as the first.
But let’s back up a minute, just how is Deadpool connected to the X-Men and how did Ryan Reynolds correct that sorry appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine?
Although the X-Men movie franchise started in 2000 with X-Men, Deadpool only appeared in the Wolverine origin story in 2009. Born as James Howlett (Hugh Jackman) who develops claws and healing powers as a young boy, X-Men Origins: Wolverine sees Wolverine reluctantly becoming part of an elite team of mutants with superpowers called Team X. And on that team is a motor-mouthed mercenary named Wade Wilson. In the movie, Wade was transformed into WWeaponXI, with his face disfigured and his mouth clammed shut.
Reynolds had wanted to play Deadpool on the big screen as far back as 2003, but his disastrous 2009 appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine is something he wants to erase. On his resurgence of Deadpool with his own movie, Reynolds has this to say, “Deadpool appearing in Origins is not the Deadpool we are representing in this film, in any way shape or form.” He added, “we didn’t quite get Deadpool right, so this is kind of an opportunity to get the most authentic version possible on the screen.”
He did so brilliantly in the solo Deadpool movie in 2016 by reinventing Deadpool. And in this sequel, he addresses his 2009 Deadpool appearance head on most spectacularly.
