Ryan Reynolds became Deadpool more than 10 years before the movie

Summary

• Reynolds' involvement with Deadpool dates back to 2004, when a studio executive recommended him for the role after noticing his resemblance to the character.
• Reynolds fell in love with Deadpool after reading the comics and felt he was destined to portray the character on screen.
• Reynolds' dedication to the role of Deadpool has paid off, making the character a household name and spawning a successful billion-dollar franchise.

Thanks to his performances in the film, Ryan Reynolds is now synonymous Deadpool all over the world. And for good reason, Reynolds' personality and comedic skills were a perfect fit for the Marvel character, whose live-action adaptation spawned a billion-dollar franchise.

As fate would have it, Ryan Reynolds actually became Deadpool in the comics sooner than in the movies. Back in 2016, in an interview with Reynolds Talks At Google, he explained that a rival studio head first planted the seeds of a Deadpool performance in his mind in 2004. Blade: Trinityhis resemblance to Wade Wilson aka Deadpool prompted an immediate recommendation: “Trust me, if they ever make a Deadpool movie, you're the only guy who can play Deadpool.

To demonstrate this point, the executive proceeded to send a party to Reynolds Deadpool comics. When the Canadian actor read the first issue, he saw the reference inside and soon fell in love with the character:

So he sent me over all these comics, and I'm not a big comic book person, but I really gravitated towards Deadpool. I fell in love with Deadpool. The first issue I opened, I'm not making this up, I was on the panel. As in the comic, Deadpool said, “I look like a cross between Ryan Reynolds and a shar-pei.” I thought, Jesus, this is fate.

Deadpool Should Always Be Played by Ryan Reynolds

Cable and Deadpool #2 By Fabian Nicieza and Mark Brooks

He was a comic Cable and Deadpool #2 By Fabian Nicieza and Mark Brooks since 2004, A full 10 years before Reynolds leaked test footage onlineand 12 years before the first Deadpool a movie would be made. As Reynolds says, the book actually refers to Wade Wilson looking like a cross between “Ryan Reynolds” and a Shar-Pei. Now, spelling aside, this is a clear reference to the actor and, quite incredibly, was Reynolds' first experience with the character.

Is it possible that a studio executive intentionally gave Reynolds a comic that referenced the actor inside? Of course. However, that executive saw the connection between Reynolds and Deadpool and cleverly introduced him to the hero. Although Reynolds wouldn't actually play the Merc with a Mouth for another decade (forgetting that he played the infamously murdered version of Deadpool in the critically acclaimed film) X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009), it's a fantastic story that makes Reynolds fall in love with Deadpool. It could all be a big coincidence, but as Reynolds says, it could be fate.

Ryan Reynolds Makes Deadpool a Household Name

Even though Deadpool is already a popular character, Ryan Reynolds managed to make him recognizable to the average moviegoer. Deadpool is now almost as recognizable as MCU mega-stars like Iron Man and Captain America, and that's entirely due to Deadpool's success, a character that Ryan Reynolds simply refuses to give up. Reynolds just worked harder than anyone expected to play Deadpool on the big screen. Finally, he was given a chance X-Men: Originsbut it was a very bad fit, and it looked like he would never get a second chance.

Dissatisfied with the horrible version of the character he was supposed to play, Reynolds tried years to make a full-fledged Deadpool movie, but studios simply weren't willing to take the risk on a big-budget R-rated superhero movie when nothing like it had been done before. Despite their hesitation, Reynolds was still able to shoot test footage for the proposed film, and when Fox still didn't believe it, the test footage somehow surfaced online. This is a massive positive response from fans and Fox eventually agreed, making it widely regarded by comic book fans and moviegoers as one of the best comic book franchises in the world. Deadpool.