Hollywood has been trying to make Ryan Reynolds happen for ages. It's not hard to see why. He is, after all, charming and handsome, inherently likeable and a pretty good actor; it's just that nobody can find a place for him, which has resulted in a bunch of really awful films and an ill-judged superhero movie in The Green Lantern. Finally, though, Reynolds might be on route to a comeback. That's to say, if the upcoming Deadpool movie turns out to be any good, Reynolds will have found his place - as a knowing superhero badass who's not afraid to break bones and spill some blood. Reynolds needs to catch a break after a succession of failed franchise starters, after all: as mentioned before, The Green Lantern was a travesty... and then there was R.I.P.D., which played out like a desperate, poor man's version of Men in Black. Essentially, Reynolds doesn't need a comeback as much as he needs a kickstart, but given that he's been in the business since the early '90s, a commercially successful and critically acclaimed blockbuster is kind of essential to the future of his awkward career.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
