Wade Winston Wilson, also known as Deadpool, is a character portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series and later the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise produced by Marvel Studios. Based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza, he was loosely adapted for his first appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), in which he is depicted as a member of Major William Stryker's Team X who is transformed into a genetically altered mutant killer known as Weapon XI, before being defeated by his former teammate Wolverine. This iteration of the character was negatively received by both critics and fans alike for deviating from the source material.
However, the timeline of the original X-Men film series was reset into the revised timeline following the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), narratively allowing for a more faithful, rebooted iteration of the character to be depicted starting with Deadpool (2016). For this iteration, Wilson is a dishonorably discharged Special Forces operative and terminal cancer patient volunteering for an experimental treatment to activate his latent mutant genes. It gives him a regenerative healing factor that counteracts his illness but disfigures him, resulting in him adopting the moniker "Deadpool" (a name he borrows from his local dive bar's gambling system), killing the mutant scientist responsible and reuniting with his fiancée Vanessa Carlysle. This version of the character received critical acclaim, with praise directed at Reynolds' performance and the faithfulness of the character's background to the comics. The first film's success led to a sequel, Deadpool 2 (2018), in which Wilson forms the X-Force to protect a young mutant from a time-traveling mercenary and avert his turn towards tyranny in the distant future. After Disney bought Fox in 2019, Deadpool was integrated into the MCU through the multiverse, with Reynolds reprising his role in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) and will reportedly reprise the role in Avengers: Doomsday (2026).
Concept, creation, and characterization Development
Artisan Entertainment had announced a deal with Marvel Entertainment in May 2000 to co-produce, finance, and distribute several films based on Marvel Comics's characters, including Deadpool, a newer character introduced in the early 1990s. By February 2004, screenwriter and director David S. Goyer and Ryan Reynolds were working on a Deadpool film at New Line Cinema. They had worked together on the Marvel film Blade: Trinity. Reynolds was interested in the part of Deadpool after learning that in the comics the character refers to his appearance as "Ryan Reynolds crossed with a Shar-Pei". New Line executive Jeff Katz, who thought Reynolds was the only actor suitable for the role, championed the idea. However, there were rights issues with 20th Century Fox and their X-Men films, and the project did not move forward.
By March 2005, Reynolds learned that Fox had expressed interest in a film featuring Deadpool. The character was set to make a cameo appearance in the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, with Reynolds cast in the part. His role was expanded during the film's production. Katz was an executive at Fox at that point, and said that Deadpool was "nicely set up to be explored in his own way" in a future film. The film's portrayal deviates from the original comic character, "imbuing him with several superpowers and sewing his mouth shut". Deadpool apparently dies in the film, though a post-credits scene showing him still alive was added to the film shortly before its release. After the successful opening weekend of Wolverine, Fox officially began development on Deadpool, with Reynolds attached to star and X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner involved. The spinoff was set to ignore the Wolverine version of Deadpool and return to the character's roots with a slapstick tone and a "propensity to break the fourth wall".
At Fox, the film went through several directors before Tim Miller settled on the position, with Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick hired to write the script. Meanwhile, Reynolds took the lead role in Green Lantern, a film that was critically and financially unsuccessful. Due to this poor reception and the fact that a film based on Deadpool would most likely be rated R instead of PG-13, Fox became doubtful about the project, even after Reynolds produced test footage of himself in-character. However, the footage was eventually leaked in 2014 to enthusiastic reviews, prompting Fox to green-light the project. Reynolds attributed Fox's green-lighting of the film entirely to the leak. He, Miller, and the writers had previously discussed leaking the footage themselves, and Reynolds initially thought that Miller had done so. He later believed the leak came from someone at Fox. In exchange for being able to make the film the way they wanted, Fox gave the crew a much smaller budget than is typical for superhero films.
Characterization
In both timelines, Wade possesses a facetiously self-aware sense of humor that disorients and annoys his enemies. He regularly insults and belittles his enemies in light and humorous ways. He has no sense of shame, and can find the humor in any situation, even after months of continuous torture and being shaken by his subsequent transformation. Only a few select people can withstand his seemingly endless talking, resulting in his mouth being sewn shut in the final act of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Ajax also threatens to sew Wade's mouth shut in Deadpool when Wade is undergoing (unconventional) cancer treatment because of his nonstop talking.
In the original timeline, Wade's sense of humor is derived from the comics. His personality is significantly more fleshed out in the new timeline. He loves cartoons, potty humor, Skee-Ball, classical music, television shows, rap music, and American pop culture. His favorite band is Wham! and George Michael, specifically, the song "Careless Whisper." He remains very movie-cultured, referencing The Matrix, RoboCop, Alien 3, Yentl, 127 Hours, Cocoon, Star Wars, Green Lantern (which also stars Ryan Reynolds), and even X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Like his comics counterpart, Wade himself is aware that he is a fictional character and makes fun of this by breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience. In Deadpool 2, when his autograph is requested by a fan, he signs it "Ryan Reynolds."
Despite his initial immaturity, Wade is a genuine, kind, good-hearted man, and in time becomes ethical and heroic to the point of sacrificing himself to save the mutant Russell Collins. Although he is a mercenary, he agreed to scare off a young girl's stalker without being paid for his troubles, revealing he can be compassionate. On matters of love, he can be sensitive, feeling forced to abandon his girlfriend, Vanessa because of his terminal cancer. He advises his taxi driver, Dopinder, to fight for the object of his affections, Gita. After Vanessa's death, Wade begins to develop a death wish, yet his inability to die further imbalances his already fractured psyche. He is content to die of cancer in the Icebox until he finds a new purpose in protecting Russell from Cable. After his near-death experience, he still has not accepted Vanessa's demise, so he uses Cable's time travel device to save her.
Reynolds worked with longtime trainer Don Saladino to get in shape for the role, gaining 7 pounds of lean muscle. Saladino commented that while they aimed to achieve an aesthetically pleasing appearance, they also wanted to get Reynolds "actual strength over superficial", so they spent extensive time working on Reynolds' mobility prior to working on actual strength.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
After the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company was announced in December 2017 and completed in March 2019, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that Deadpool would be integrated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) under Disney, and that the company would be willing to make future R-rated Deadpool films "as long as we let the audiences know what's coming". The Once Upon a Deadpool version of the film was being watched carefully by Disney and Marvel Studios to see whether it might inform how they could approach the character and integrate him into the PG-13 MCU.
In October 2019, Reese and Wernick said that they had a script in development, but were waiting for approval from Marvel Studios to begin production on the third film. Reese said, "[Deadpool] will live in the R-rated universe that we've created, and hopefully we'll be allowed to play a little bit in the MCU sandbox as well and incorporate him into that." In December 2019, Reynolds confirmed that a third Deadpool film was in development at Marvel Studios, which was confirmed by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige in January 2021, with Reynolds reprising his role. The film retained the R-rating of the prior films and is set in the MCU. Feige described Wilson as a "very different type of character" in the MCU. In March 2022, Shawn Levy was revealed as the film's director after previously collaborating with Reynolds on Free Guy (2021) and The Adam Project (2022), while Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick rewrote the Molyneux sisters' screenplay, reprising their duties from the first two Deadpool films. Filming began in May 2023. Reynolds also produced the film alongside Kevin Feige through his production company Maximum Effort.
In May 2022, screenwriter Michael Waldron confirmed in an interview that there had been discussions within Marvel regarding Reynolds making a cameo appearance as Deadpool in the multiverse-focused film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), as he himself felt "[it] would've been crazy to not raise that" after the inclusions of other X-Men related elements in the film such as the Savage Land and the character Professor Charles Xavier (played by returning X-Men actor Patrick Stewart). However, Waldron would ultimately feel as if the film was an unfitting place to feature the character. The Marvel Studios: Assembled episode on the making of Multiverse of Madness also featured concept art depicting a "Deadpool dimension", an alternate world cityscape with multiple billboards adorned with Deadpool-themed posters and comic book art. A pair of sneakers inspired by Deadpool's costume appears in the main-on-end credits sequence of the metafictional Disney+ television series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022), featured as part of a collection of Marvel Comics-inspired sneakers owned by Augustus Pugliese (Josh Segarra).
In October 2025, former MCU filmmaker and DC Studios co-chairman James Gunn revealed that he had spoken to Ryan Reynolds about a potential cameo appearance as Deadpool in the DC Universe (DCU) television series Peacemaker (2022–2025). Deadpool would have appeared in the season 2 finale "Full Nelson" as an inhabitant of one of the alternate dimensions observed by A.R.G.U.S. within the Quantum Unfolding Chamber. Despite Reynolds' enthusiasm, the cameo was ultimately scrapped out of concern for the various legal issues involved in licensing out the character from Marvel Studios to appear on the series.
Appearances
In the original timeline, Wilson is first referenced in X2 (2003); his name appears on William Stryker's computer that contain files on multiple individuals and organizations related to mutants.