Deadpool Solo Film Offered to Robert Rodriguez

News, Rumors

The Playlist and Production Weekly have reported that Desperado writer/director Robert Rodriguez has been offered the directing chair on the upcoming X-Men spin-off Deadpool.

Rodriguez, who has already worked on two films for Deadpool studio 20th Century Fox — Predators and Machete, has been offered a chance to direct the superhero film written by Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Ryan Reynolds is attached to the role of psychotic mercenary Wade Wilson AKA Deadpool.

Deadpool is a character who has gained a lot of traction in the comic book world as of late — despite first appearing nearly twenty years ago. This month alone he will appear in seven titles. Reynolds, star of the upcoming Green Lantern, played the character in last year’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine — though several liberties were taken with the character’s personality and appearance.

While Rodriguez has not yet accepted the offer, he is said to be considering it. This summer Rodriguez will go into production on Spy Kids 4: Armageddon, the upcoming sequel/reboot to his popular children’s film franchise.

The Buzz: While I am not the biggest Deadpool fan, I see a lot of potential in his character. If done right (see Joe Kelly’s early run on the Deadpool solo series from the ’90s), Deadpool can be a complete blast and a strong contender for a solo film.

Reynolds has the charm and charisma to be able to pull of the character and Reese and Wernick showed in Zombieland that they can do a fine mix of comedy and action. If Rodriguez is indeed the final piece of the puzzle, Deadpool could be a film to watch — something of a cross between The Mask and El Mariachi — in other words, pure fun.

With Reynolds’ schedule filling up, the question becomes when the star could possibly find the time to film the movie. Luckily, I’ve got the answer: Don’t wait for Reynolds.

Don’t get me wrong, Reynolds is the absolute best choice to give Deadpool his attitude but — if Fox wisely decides to stick to the character more faithfully for his solo film — there is absolutely no need for Reynolds to do the day-to-day grunt work on the movie.

Instead, Fox should hire a stunt man or action specialist (maybe somebody like Scott Adkins who played the Weapon XI version of Deadpool in Wolverine) to wear the character’s full body costume and film the movie. Reynolds can then come in to provide Deadpool’s voice and film whatever flashback scenes are needed.

This method could mean Rodriguez, who is known for his lighting fast film shoots, could whip out a winning Deadpool movie in record time.

Robert Rodriguez is an inspired choice to direct Deadpool. Let’s hope he finds his own inspiration he needs in order to get him excited about the project.

Robert Saucedo is an avid movie watcher with seriously poor sleeping habits. The Mikey from Life cereal of film fans, Robert will watch just about anything — good, bad or ugly. He has written about film for newspapers, radio and online for the last 10 years. This has taken a toll on his sanity — of that you can be sure. Follow him on Twitter at @robsaucedo2500.