Valentine’s Day weekend of 2016, Ryan Reynolds stole the hearts of millions portraying Wade Wilson, a wisecracking mercenary who becomes the lovable, unkillable anti-hero known to Marvel fans as Deadpool. Raking in over $130,000,000 opening weekend, Deadpool went on to earn 28 awards, 75 nominations and garnished 2 Golden Globe nominations. Needless to say, the live action “Merc with a Mouth” became a smash hit spawning a sequel while, much to fanbase delight, brandishing an R-rating for both films not seen in the on-screen Marvel vision of today.
Given the success of the Deadpool brand, it was only a matter of time before confirmation of a largely speculated third installment surfaced. And Deadpool fans received just that on Christmas Eve day when Reynolds appeared on Live! With Kelly and Ryan.
“Yeah, we’re working on it right now with the whole team,” said Reynolds when inevitably asked about his MCU alter-ego. “We’re over at Marvel now, which is like the big leagues all of a sudden. It’s kinda crazy. So yeah, we’re working on it.”
As most MCU audiences are aware, the previous films in the Deadpool franchise, distributed by 20th Century Fox, were not officially part of the Disney owned MCU world … a fact that became a running joke in the anti-hero films. However, that changed this past year with the Disney-Fox merger signifying that the spandex wearing assassin may soon share the screen with the Avengers and all our other favorite MCU superheroes.
While the prospect of Deadpool fighting alongside the Avengers is exhilarating and welcome, it is difficult to tell if the Disney-Fox merger will have an impact on Deadpool’s signature style of foul-mouthed dirty jokes and humorous, unflinching action. After all, Disney isn’t exactly known for their R-rated material. Perhaps we will see a toned down version of the red and black spandex donning assassin during team-up films while his brand of justice remains untouched in solo outings? Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain. Deadpool’s return to the big screen backed by Marvel Studios will be one MCU feature not to miss!
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