Debuting his beloved character Deadpool in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine was of Ryan Reynolds‘ biggest professional letdowns from throughout his career. Now, fans can relive the underwhelming first appearance of Wade Wilson on Disney+ Friday as Origins is added to the streamer as part of the Marvel Legacy Collection.
Reynolds has spoken openly about how unhappy he was with Deadpool’s characterization in Origins, which lacked any of the fourth-wall-breaking the Merc with a Mouth is known for and ended in Wilson having his mouth sewn shut. In November 2016, the actor revealed to GQ he wasn’t on board for Deadpool’s portrayal in the film at all but was told he had to sign on if he wanted to play the character in the Marvel universe at all. “The conversation at the time was ‘If you want to play Deadpool, this is your chance to introduce him. And if you don’t want to introduce him in this fashion, we’ll have someone else play him,’” he recalled.
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Origins was also written during the WGA strike, so Reynolds was the one writing his dialogue onset before performing it. “I mean, in the stage directions it just said, ‘Deadpool shows up, talks really fast, and makes a lot of jokes,’” he revealed, saying of Wilson’s characterization later in the film, “But it completely departed all canon and reason and he wound up being this abomination of Deadpool that was like Barakapool, with his mouth sewn shut and weird blades that came out of his hands and these strange tattoos and stuff like that.”
When Origins leaked online less than two months before the planned date, fans were understandably upset at their first glance at Deadpool. Reynolds recalled getting a phone call from the chief of the studio telling him to get on a plane to reshoot the end of the film, saying, “I was such a douche, because I was like, ‘I told you so.’ I still get angry, because I remember saying, ‘You know, there are more Deadpool fans out there than you realize, and they’re not gonna be happy with this.’” It would take until 2016 for Deadpool to get his own film, which was a major hit, grossed $782.6 million and spawned a sequel. Relive Reynolds’ first appearance as Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, streaming Friday on Disney+.
