Prior to 2016, Ryan Reynolds hadn’t had the best of luck with comic book movies, with a C.V. that included the critically derided Blade Trinity, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Green Lantern, R.I.P.D. Of course, that all changed with the release of Deadpool, which proved to be a smash hit with fans and critics alike, and has even picked up a couple of Golden Globe nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor in the Musical or Comedy categories.
During an interview with EW, Reynolds was asked for his thoughts on why Deadpool succeeded while his previous superhero outing Green Lantern failed:
“Well it’s simple: Deadpool always knew what it was. With Green Lantern, I don’t think anyone ever figured out exactly what it was. That isn’t to say the hundreds of men and women didn’t work their fingers to the bone to make it as good as possible. It also fell victim to the process in Hollywood which is like poster first, release date second, script last. At the time, it was a huge opportunity for me so I was excited to try and take part in it. I did however write a letter to Fox right before I had to decide whether or not I was gonna do Green Lantern. I asked one last time sort of like the groom standing at the alter, ‘Will you please be my wife?’ and they said they couldn’t pull the trigger on Deadpool. For too many reasons too boring to illustrate, it just didn’t work.”
Well, as we now know, Deadpool did indeed work, becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time with $760.3 million worldwide, and Reynolds will soon be reprising the role of the Merc with a Mouth for a sequel, which is yet to receive a release date from Fox.
Originally published December 16, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
