Welp, my hopes for a retooled and improved Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds have been permanently laid to rest. At least that’s what I can surmise based on today’s headlines. Marvel has officially set a 2016 release date for the Deadpool movie fanboys and fangirls have been frothing at the mouth for. As far as Reynolds signing on officially, I’m just going to go ahead and go with the tide on this one. It’s as good as done. Granted, I could not stand his character in X-Men Origins, but then again, I didn’t like that movie period. Besides, he was freaking grotesque.
On Thursday, the studio announced that the movie will hit theaters Feb. 12, 2016. Tim Miller is set to direct the film, with Ryan Reynolds long rumored to star, although no deal is set. Bets are that he will.
The beloved Marvel character Deadpool, a.k.a. Wade Wilson, is a talkative mercenary with a host of powers, including the ability to heal at a fast rate. Reynolds played Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, while Scott Adkins played the character of Deadpool after Wilson had transformed.
News of Deadpool‘s release comes weeks after test footage of the project leaked briefly online. The sequence, featuring Reynolds, was shot several years ago, but nevertheless sparked intense conversation on social media.
You may be wondering what the hell is wrong for me for even holding out the smallest bit of hope for a Green Lantern reboot with Reynolds returning. Well, yes the movie as garbage, but he was actually really impressive to me in that film. I actually felt like the material was entirely too heavy for a guy like him, and the script was shit. Not even Sir Patrick Stewart could have worked with that tripe. In a way, Reynolds playing Deadpool is a homecoming, and with the right material, he’ll totally knock the role out of the park.
Still, I’ll miss him in his emerald glory…