Deadpool Before Movie Stardom

“Kid’s got a real keen eye for the obvious,” quips Deadpool when his younger opponent Cannonball observes that Wade has overcome his forcefield. That statement is about as humorous as Deadpool gets in his first appearance from New Mutants #98 (1991) where he appeared as an assassin sent to kill the New Mutants’ new leader Cable.

Yes, Deadpool began life as a generic edgy ’90s character, created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza. Eventually, Nicieza injected more humor into the character, even embracing the similarities to Deathstroke by giving the new marvel assassin a name which riff’s on the DC Comics villain Slade Wilson. But Deadpool didn’t fully come into his own until Joe Kelly, Christopher Priest, and Gail Simone took over his solo title, eventually adding the metatextual awareness and off-beat humor that people have come to expect. Furthermore, it took Deadpool‘s 2010 foray into the Mature Readers’ Marvel MAX line to really become the uncouth killer he is today.

That mixture of self-awareness and gratuitous violence drove the infamous proof of concept footage that leaked online in 2014 and led to the actual movie’s production. Coming in at just under two minutes, the footage was produced by director Tim Miller and was commissioned by 20th Century Fox in 2012. But between the clearly R-rated content, and the lackluster response to Ryan Reynolds‘ Green Lantern, the studio balked.

Obviously, this all changed after fans went nuts online for leaked footage of Deadpool hacking his enemies to bits. Not that Fox had a reason to complain. The first Deadpool movie that was greenlit from that embarrassment went on to earn $782 million despite featuring a scene of Wade being pegged onscreen by his girlfriend. As it turned out, blood, guts, and sex sell… at least for a little while.

Deadpool’s Dad Jokes

Yes, everyone, it seems, loved Deadpool. But Deadpool didn’t want everyone to love him, at least not in 2016. Still released at the height of superhero movie madness, Deadpool attracted attention from viewers of all ages, prompting Reynolds to release a statement (in character) begging parents, “Please don’t take your underage children to see my movie.” Reynolds reiterated that sentiment while promoting Detective Pikachu in 2019, saying, “My kids will never see Deadpool.”

Five years later, things have evidently changed. Those same kids he wanted to shelter from the Merc with a Mouth are actually in Deadpool & Wolverine, along with their mother Blake Lively. And although he didn’t totally put his stamp of approval on other parents showing the movie to their children, Reynolds did call Deadpool & Wolverine “the first four-quadrant R-rated film.” For those (blessedly) unaware of movie marketer speak, “four-quadrant” means that the film appeals to all four of the categories to which studios try to appeal: Men under 25, Men over 25, Women under 25, and Women over 25.