It’s taken Ryan Reynolds 11 years to get the superhero flick Deadpool into theaters. The Marvel superhero (real name: Wade Wilson), a Special Forces operative who undergoes an experiment that grants him healing powers, was in development back in 2004 at New Line with Reynolds attached in the starring role and David S. Goyer (Batman trilogy writer) directing.
It never came to fruition. In the years since, Reynolds’ Deadpool made a brief appearance in the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Reynolds starred as another superhero, The Green Lantern, in the 2011 catastrophe. Now Deadpool, set for release February 12, 2016, is almost here, and Reynolds seems perfectly suited for Wilson—a vengeance-seeking vigilante with a hard body and cutting sense of humor. And Reynolds—along with director Tim Miller and his fellow cast members—made a surprise appearance during Fox’s panel presentation at 2015’s San Diego Comic-Con to introduce the anticipated film.
“(It’s) the most faithful adaptation of a comic book to a movie I’ve ever seen,” Reynolds said of the film. “I’ve only ever done one other proper—actually not proper—superhero movie,” he added, poking fun at Green Lantern.“For one I think it’s an absolute miracle that a studio let us make Deadpool, let alone a Rated-R Deadpool.”Indeed, Tim Miller’s Deadpool will be the first Marvel superhero film since 1998’s Blade to bear an R-rating, and judging by the film’s violent, curse-happy trailer, it’s very proud of that fact.You can check out a leaked version of the trailer here that, with its in-jokes and ultraviolence, was arguably the most well-received piece of footage that debuted at this year’s Comic-Con: