Ryan Reynolds celebrates Deadpool’s 6th anniversary, shares behind-the-scene photos

He wrote in the caption, “Six years today. Iron Anniversary. ⚔️ #Deadpool1”

Released on February 12, 2016, the Tim Miller directorial was ostensibly an X-Men spinoff, but turned out to be so much more. Scripted by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, it was one of the few comic-book movies that tried to break the mould. For a movie with a major comic-book character at its centre, the budget was shoestring — a laughably low $58 million.

 

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For Fox, the studio behind X-Men and Fantastic Four projects (then; now Disney owns Fox and those properties), the film proved to be a massive return on investment. For Deadpool managed to earn upwards of $780 million.

But more than the numbers, Deadpool was a subversive superhero, if he can be called that. Here was a hero not afraid to laugh at himself. Or other people. Or pretty much anything.

He picked plot holes in his own storyline and movies. He frequently broke the fourth wall, addressing the audiences directly. Even though his origin story is pretty dark, it is hard to stay sad when the man himself does not dwell upon his cruel fate, unless to joke about it.

The movie was about the titular mutant, Wade Wilson, who was a special-forces operative working as a mercenary. He gets diagnosed with cancer and undergoes a shady procedure under the supervision of a shadier Ajax. His cancer is not cured but he gets incredible healing abilities that perpetually fight the tumours in his body. Only, his face is scarred. Oh, and his brain is screwed up now. He is borderline insane.

The movie received highly positive response from critics as well, scoring 85 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus reads, “Fast, funny, and gleefully profane, the fourth-wall-busting Deadpool subverts superhero film formula with wildly entertaining — and decidedly non-family-friendly — results.”

Deadpool spawned a sequel in 2018, and a third movie is in development, and the character is expected to join the MCU.