A Deadpool 2 Has Already Got A Green Light

Deadpool hits theaters this Friday, and he's got everyone talking!  With an incredible ad campaign and having Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 100% likability from the early screenings, 20th Century Fox has already given the go ahead for a sequel to the film.  In the early stages of it's creation, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick made it clear that they wanted to make more than just one film for the beloved comic book character, and that they already had ideas in mind for the follow up.  Director Tim Miller and actor Ryan Reynolds are both on board for the sequel, too.

This movie has had to overcome some pretty big obstacles in order to get made, though, so the fact that a sequel is already in the works is pretty impressive.  First introduced to the X-Men cinematic universe in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds played Wade Wilson pretty convincingly in the movies first 10 minutes or so, but when he came back at the end with no mouth and no personality, fans turned their backs on the character and the movie.  I mean, what were they thinking taking away the Merc with a Mouth's mouth?  Idiots.  Before it's disastrous debut, 20th Century Fox was already planning to make a stand alone Deadpool movie, but when Origins tanked, it got shelved.  That was seven years ago.  But Reynolds never gave up on the movie and kept pushing to get it made.  Then, last year some test footage that had been done "leaked" online, and fans went nuts!  Who leaked it?  No one knows.  20th Century Fox said they were investigating it, but I'm pretty sure that if they ever find out who did it, they'll get a bonus check, and not fired.  The leaked footage stole all of the attention at SDCC and was fast tracked into production.

The second hurdle that it had to make was a question of what sort of rating should it get?  Fans were afraid that it would get a PG-13 rating so the studio could reach a wider audience, but anything less than an R wouldn't be true to the comic book character.  The fans won out, and we got our R rating.  Now, after months and months of waiting, we'll get to see just how good a job they've done with the character.  It's success is important for the company, too, and they've got a lot riding on it.  Not just in in dollars, but in keeping the X-Men cinematic universe going as well.  With this summer's X-Men: Apocalypse ending this second trilogy of the famed mutants, 20th Century Fox needs Deadpool to do well so they can keep their X-Men franchise going.  If Deadpool does as well as everyone is saying, not only are we getting a Deadpool 2, but expect to see spinoff movies like X-Force and The New Mutants making their way to the screen in the coming years.

I have to say, after seeing Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he pissed me off.  Now seeing him as Deadpool, I can't think of anyone else who could ever play the guy.  Let's hope he's around for the ride as long as Hugh Jackman was as Wolverine.  Way to redeem yourself, Reynolds!