TM & © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Not for sale or duplication.(NEW YORK) — While the original Deadpool was a gamble for 20th Century Fox, the modestly budgeted, R-rated 2016 movie became a smash, making more than $783 million in theaters worldwide.
Ryan Reynolds spent 11 years trying to do justice to the character, who was born on the pages of Marvel Comics in 1991.
While writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld created Wade Wilson/Deadpool, writer Joe Kelly spent three years writing the books and shaping the character — as well as creating the first movie’s villain, Francis/Ajax, and Wade’s roommate/confidante, Blind Al. Kelly was thrilled to see his characters get the nod from Reynolds and company.
“It blew me away,” Kelly told ABC Radio. “And to see them articulated on the big screen it was really great — especially Al — and Leslie Uggams just slays it! Every scene she’s in is hilarious…[A]nd then to have that story — which we did sort of as an annual origin story for him — basically be the basis of the film, was really great.”
“Ryan ultimately…championed Deadpool,” Kelly said. “You know, some of these projects, people are not sure what to do with them. Deadpool really is like big A, capital A ‘anti-hero’…and…so even if they had wanted to do it, I don’t know that they would have known how.”
“And I think [Ryan] … had the foresight, you know and stuck with it, which is very, very cool,” Kelly says.
Deadpool 2, which also stars Josh Brolin, Terry Crews and Zazie Beetz, is now in theaters.
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