Finally, Fox confirmed the news that everybody had been hoping for: a Deadpool movie was, officially, actually going to be made. Ryan Reynolds has been lobbying for a solo flick after his part as the character was given a rather short shrift in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where the merc with a mouth ironically having his gob sewn up and everything that's interesting and fun about the character jettisoned in favour of making him a hulking villain for Logan to duke it out with during the film's climax. It turns out that Reynolds had not only been lobbying but actively pitching to Fox, and a reel of test footage he shot with director Tim Miller back in 2012 "leaked" this year, not long after San Diego Comic-Con. Not long after the studio announced that, yes, Deadpool would be appearing in his own movie and, presumably, closer to his comic book incarnation than his appearance in X-Men Origins. Which could easily be solved, continuity-wise, thanks to that clean slate that Days Of Future Past provided. Then Fox went one further just this past week and also confirmed that the forthcoming Deadpool film would exist in the shared X-Men cinematic universe, which is the first time they've spoken openly about expanding the franchise beyond the core films. Which means that, if Deadpool and the main X-Men films continue to be successful, there's the opportunity for further spin-offs. Bring Wade Wilson, the fourth-wall breaking assassin anti-hero, into the world of the mutants is a much-needed ray of manic sunshine in a fairly dour series, and it'd be nice to see them continue to be adventurous with their choices when selecting from the huge X-Men toy box. Keep your fingers crossed that the success of Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy swings things in the favour of a Starjammers movie, where Cyclops's absent father flies around space like a sci-fi Errol Flynn. It's awesome.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
