Scott Adkins, who served as Ryan Reynolds’ stunt double on X-Men Origins: Wolverine, said he knew right from the start that the movie’s depiction of Deadpool would be terrible. As he stands right now, Reynolds’ Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool, is largely considered to be one of the best comic book characters in cinema right now. Reynolds brought the wise-cracking mercenary to the big screen in 2016’s Deadpool, a massive success that led to a sequel and worldwide acclaim for the actor. Fans were delighted to see Wade portrayed in a way that matched the comics, fourth wall breaks and all.

However, Deadpool was unfortunately not the first time the character hit the big screen. Reynolds played a version of Deadpool in the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which tracked the early years of Hugh Jackman’s Logan. Fans were stunned to see a Wade with little to no personality, no addresses to the audience, and, most horrifically, with his mouth sewn shut. Seeing as his nickname in the comics is often the “Merc with a Mouth”, it was clear X-Men Origins took a hard left turn with its portrayal of Deadpool.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

Adkins recently sat down with The Illuminerdi and discussed his brush with Deadpool in X-Men Origins. As Adkins stepped in for the Deadpool stunts when he became Weapon XI, he saw the early concept art for a Wade with his mouth sealed. That right from the start was a red flag for him. Adkins said:

“When I got the role and went down I was excited. I was fully expecting to see the entire Deadpool costume and all that. When they brought me in and I saw the concept art of the mouth sewn shut and the laser eyes and the claws that pop out…I thought, ‘This isn’t going to work.’ (Laughs)”

Adkins then went on to joke he wishes he could’ve been called back for Deadpool 2, which included an end-credits scene where the properly red-suited and foul mouthed Wade went back in time to kill X-Men Origin‘s Deadpool. “He could have killed me in the end. After all it was my fault,” Adkins said with a laugh. That little moment was a fun meta joke for fans, and in a way, it felt cathartic for those who were deeply disappointed by X-Men Origins. The Deadpool 2 scene was also the perfect representation of Wade as he was always meant to be shown: Violent and full of brilliant meta humor.

Reynolds’ rebooted take on Deadpool has proven to be a far bigger success than the one in X-Men Origins. Currently, Deadpool 3 is in development at Marvel Studios with a new pair of writers, signaling a continued interest in the property. The first onscreen Deadpool might have been a huge mistake, but Reynolds knew just what to do to rehabilitate him. It’s a relief for both him and audiences that the character received second life on the big screen, and hopefully he’ll continue to entertain fans for years to come.

See also  10 Sopranos Characters, Ranked By Intelligence

Source: The Illuminerdi

Superman Is The Reason The DCEU Can’t Beat Marvel

About The Author


Rachel Labonte
(3420 Articles Published)

Rachel LaBonte is a news, feature, and movie review writer for Screen Rant with a deep passion for film and television. A graduate of Emerson College, she majored in Media Arts Production while specializing in screenwriting. She’s been a writer ever since high school when she realized she was rather good at it and joined as many entertainment news clubs as she could while in school. Most notably, she wrote for Emerson’s website Emertainment Monthly, and one of her film reviews won an Evvy (Emerson’s student awards) for Best Review. Her deep love of movies led to her working at a movie theater for five years, which she loved despite the angry customers. An avid reader who constantly buys books before reading the ones she already owns, Rachel is a huge fan of superheroes (especially of the Marvel variety) and wizards and will likely never be able to catch up on all the movies/TV shows she longs to watch.

More From Rachel Labonte