MOZI NEWS – Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld seems to share the majority opinion when it comes to the character’s cinematic debut.

Like most people, Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld was more than disappointed by the appearance of Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While Wilson’s comic book incarnation went through many changes from The New Mutants supervillain to everyone’s favourite swear-loving, fourth-wall-breaking, outspoken mercenary, the same can be said for his film adaptation. Though the character, already played by Ryan Reynolds, was not well received on its debut, after what was initially presented as a close interpretation of Liefeld’s creation was transformed into the mute, obedient ‘Weapon XI’, removing all the good from the character.

Speaking on The Big Thing with Kristian Harloff and Coy Jandreau, Liefeld talked about how disappointed he was with the way the character was treated in his first big-screen appearance. Liefeld said he tried to raise concerns about the character’s portrayal, but the studio was more interested in Gambit’s character at the time and planned his own spin-off, which ultimately went nowhere. Even after the film was leaked to the internet and the fan backlash was made public, Liefeld’s suggestion to include another closing scene at the end of the film that might more accurately portray Deadpool was rejected. He said:

“I was very disappointed by it.”

“I knew that they were mistreating him a year out. So, I begged them to do an after credits with him in the mask coming out literally six weeks before it premiered…look X-Men Origins: Wolverine, after the opening with Ryan cutting the bullets with the katanas, that movie doesn’t exist to me.”

Although his first appearance left much to be desired, Deadpool finally came in 2016 with the help of Ryan Reynolds, who was believed to be the source of the test footage that was leaked as the character. This leak led to thousands of fans urging the studio to make a Deadpool movie. Whatever the truth was, Deadpool was born, and a sequel followed in 2018, both quickly erasing the memory of the first release. Although the post-credit scene in Deadpool 2 reminded everyone that he had “righted” the wrongs of the past, including that Wolverine appearance and his involvement in the Green Lantern movie.

With Deadpool now an R-rated superstar and both films among the highest-grossing movies in that category, Deadpool’s future was already set with the development of a third film until the Disney/Fox merger arrived and cast doubt on the character’s future. However, fans’ fears that Deadpool might not return, or if he does return, he will do so in a watered-down, Disney-compatible form, were somewhat assuaged after it was announced that Deadpool would remain R-rated even as an MCU entry and that no changes were planned to the character’s most popular form. With Reynolds reportedly already working on the script, it’s only a matter of time before we learn more about what the future holds for the character…

Source: The Big Thing