A solo feature film starring Deadpool – Marvel Comics’ mutant-powered Merc with a Mouth created by artist Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza who made his first appearance in February 1991’s New Mutants #98 – has been in the works for the past decade at various studios including New Line Cinema. Ryan Reynolds (R.I.P.D.) had been attached to the title role long before he played a controversial iteration of the wisecracking comic book badass in X-Men Origins: Wolverine that did not go over well with devoted fans of Wade Wilson. Why mince words? It stunk to high Hell and was far from being the cinematic Deadpool that could have been.

Nonetheless, Reynolds has been tirelessly championing Deadpool for years and several directors enthusiastically circled the project – chief among them were Robert Rodriguez and music video helmsman (and current Videodrome remake shot-caller) Adam Berg. As it stands the man who wants to bring Deadpool to the big screen in the movie the character deserves is Tim Miller, a veteran visual effects artist whose past credits include X-Men, Daredevil, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Miller would be making his directorial debut on the film should it ever actually get made. Well sure enough, that may happen a lot sooner than we think.

The potential Deadpool movie has been held up over the years at 20th Century Fox over problems from the studio regarding the budget and Reynolds and Miller’s desire to make it a violent, gory, hard-R feature that would suit the character just right. An early draft screenplay written by Zombieland/G.I. Joe: Retaliation scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick has been widely available online to download and read for years. Reese and Wernick recently submitted a new draft, indicating that the project remains alive and kicking. Miller confirmed this in a recent interview, stating, “We will never give up! Deadpool is still alive and we’re just waiting for the studio to embrace what an amazingly f***ing awesome film this would be. Ryan is ready, I am ready, the fans are more than ready, we just need that elusive green light.”

Reynolds shared his thoughts on the long-in-development Deadpool film and his hopes that it will yet get a green light from Fox in an interview with Yahoo UK:

The actor also spoke out about the Reese/Wernick script and expresses confidence that Deadpool is quietly inching its way towards finally becoming a reality:

Earlier this year Reese confirmed that Miller had directed a three-minute test reel to sell Fox executives on the Deadpool project, with Reynolds performing motion-capture and providing voice work. Though the test has yet to be seen by anyone outside of the movie’s primary instigators and the studio the consensus is that Miller’s reel is amazing and proves that Deadpool is in the right hands for once.

Miller and Reynolds are bound and determined to make this movie happen, and it looks as if they will get their wish pretty soon. If only to undo the damage done to the character in the first solo Wolverine movie must Deadpool get made. R-rated superhero movies are not exactly a rare breed, but after the failure of two distinct features based on Marvel’s stone-faced vigilante the Punisher to make enough of an impression on audiences to become viable new franchises it is not surprising that Fox would be extremely averse to taking the plunge. Reynolds is no longer the seemingly guaranteed box office draw he was believed to be several years ago either, as the diminishing returns on Green Lantern and R.I.P.D. proved painfully.

But if the budget is kept to a manageable number both studio and filmmakers can live with and they stick to the hilarious and violent Reese/Wernick scripts, then Deadpool could not only be a great movie but also a profitable one. It would also stand out amidst the growing glut of big-budget tentpole superhero franchise flicks. I think it will work and everyone involved will be happy with the results, and given Miller and Reynolds passion for the material Deadpool could very well be shaking up multiplexes with some hardcore comic book mayhem sometime within the next few years.

[Source: Yahoo! UK | Clevver Movies via First Showing]