The release of the first trailer for Deadpool was hailed by fans across the Internet as a triumph - at long last, a comic-book movie that wasn't aiming for the middle of the road.
Ryan Reynolds' no-holds-barred take on the Merc With A Mouth has been a long time coming, but now, at long last, it's finally here. So, before the release date, we figured it's time to get our affairs in order and give you the rundown on everything you need to know.
OK, WHY IS EVERYONE FREAKING OUT ABOUT DEADPOOL? IT'S JUST ANOTHER COMIC-BOOK MOVIE
Yes, yes it is. But why people are so intrigued and excited about Deadpool is because many believed it simply couldn't translate into a film. For one, in the comics anyway, Deadpool is set apart from the others in that he KNOWS he's in a comic-book. He regularly breaks the fourth wall and addresses the reader, usually with some smart-ass comment. What's more, the character is gleefully violent and frequently uses adult language. He's the complete opposite to the Avengers, Spider-Man, X-Men - all of them. He's the very antithesis of a superhero. And that's why fans love him.
SO WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG FOR THIS TO GET MADE?
A few reasons, some of them we've already covered. Any Deadpool film would have to be R-rated or 16s over here. When you consider that all of the Disney / Marvel films are at least 12A or lower and how much of the audience is made up of young teenagers, that's a big chunk of movie being left on the table. Deadpool is slated for an R-rating and will, at the very least, be a 16s here. That means they're going full-on with all the risque elements of Deadpool. Studios weren't exactly jumping at the prospect of making a comic-book movie with a comic-book budget with half the available audience watching it.
Furthermore, X-Men Origins featured Deadpool and, well, less said about X-Men Origins, the better. Ryan Reynolds, likewise, wasn't available for quite a while and there might have been a feeling that he was tainted goods. He hadn't much in the way of box-office success in quite a while so one could assume that his name attached to the film was scaring off backers.
WASN'T THIS FILM LEAKED A WHILE AGO?
No, test footage was leaked online by the CG studio and, thanks in no part to sites like us (AHEM), it quickly went viral and there was an outcry for the film to be made. Reynolds noted this very fact in recent interviews, saying that the fan support for the film directly led to Fox reevaluating the film's potential. Up until then, it was essentially dead in the water. The test footage, interestingly, was a sort of pre-viz of the scene in the trailer when the jeep flips a few times and Deadpool cracks the joke about his suit.
RYAN REYNOLDS HAS BEEN PUSHING THIS FILM FOR YEARS. WHY?
He loves the character. He was associated with it from the very early stages and fans believe he's the best actor for the job. We completely agree. What's more, his determination and dedication to the character and seeing the film done right is really quite admirable. Most actors would have just chucked it and moved on when you consider the setbacks the film had. Not Reynolds. He's hung tough on this for quite some time and now, at long last, it's finally paying off.
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS DEADPOOL? IS HE A MUTANT OR AN AVENGER OR WHAT?
The character was created in 1991 by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld. He became a fan favourite pretty quickly, thanks to the irreverent humour he displayed throughout his appearances and his frequent pop-culture references. The character was originally known as Wade Wilson, a Special Forces operative who was known for his wit and humour. From what we can gather from the trailer, Wade is diagnosed with cancer in various parts of his body and is offered a chance at prolonging his life. The Weapon X project, which created Hugh Jackman's Wolverine character, was set up to create soldiers who were able to regenerate from injuries. The process, of course, worked but it disfigured Wilson and drove him insane. Much like The Joker in DC Comics, there's been several reinventions of his origins so it's likely the film will just draw on various storylines or come up with something entirely.
WHO'S STARRING IN DEADPOOL? WHO'S DIRECTING?
Ryan Reynolds, obviously, will be playing Deadpool. Homeland's Morena Baccarin will be playing Vanessa Carlysle, Deadpool's love interest. In the comics, the character was a mutant shapeshifter known as Copycat. Whether that'll be the case here, we don't know. Silicon Valley's TJ Miller plays Weasel, Deadpool's friend and information broker. MMA star Gina Corano plays Angel Dust whilst stuntman Andre Tricoteux will play Colossus. He's the metal-coated mutant you saw in the trailer and featured in X-Men 2 and X-Men 3. Different actor, same character.
The villain of the piece, as far as we can tell, will be British actor Ed Skrein. He briefly played Daario Nahaaris in Game of Thrones before he was replaced and he'll be next seen in that Transporter reboot, Transporter: Refuelled. He's being billed as the next Jason Statham, essentially. He'll play Ajax, another experiment-gone-wrong from the Weapon X program who's imbued with super-strength and super-speed. We're guessing his goal is to clean up the mess made from Weapon X and off Deadpool.
Tim Miller is directing and this will be his first effort. Don't worry, he's not some chump off the street. Miller's background is in design. He created the opening title sequence for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and was hired all the way back in 2011 to look after Deadpool. It was his studio, Blur Studios, that created the test footage we saw earlier this year. The script is from Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, who wrote Zombieland and are currently running the cult TV series The Joe Schmo Show.
WILL THERE BE ANY CAMEOS?
Stan Lee (obviously) will have a quick cameo as will Rob Liefeld, the creator of Deadpool. As for the likes of Hugh Jackman or any of the X-Men actors, it's unlikely. For one, it wouldn't make a huge amount of sense and it'd detract from what they're trying to do. You'd spend the entire film looking out for them. The best way we can describe this film is that it's a harder, more dirty version of Guardians of the Galaxy. It's in the universe, but it's separate from it. That's not to say that there won't be some references made to other characters, but we doubt they'll feature. Who knows. Maybe.
THERE'S A SEQUEL ALREADY IN THE WORKS, ISN'T THERE...
Director Tim Miller said that it's in the works and obviously depends on how the first one works out.