Deadpool: Are big screen Chimichangas in our Future?

“Ryan is ready, I am ready, the fans are more than ready, we just need that elusive green light.” The studio green light is all that fans of our favourite antihero, Deadpool have between them and the big screen film that they are dying to see. The loveably psychotic “merc with a mouth” first hit the shelves of our comic stores in 1991 in New Mutants #98 and was the genius brainchild of writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Robert Liefeld. Since 1991 Deadpool has gone on to become one of Marvels greatest successes and has one of the largest fan followings of all of Marvel’s characters.

This week fans fell into geeky love with the leaked test footage of Tom Miller’s Deadpool movie project. I personally was considering writing an article on how I believed portraying the undying mutant would be a difficult task but after seeing the test footage staring the voice of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool I feel that is no longer an issue. 

The incredible official hd test footage can be found at this link (as blogspot doesn't like to embed anything other than yotube videos) http://dai.ly/x22eged

And if that isn't the epitome of what a Deadpool fight scene should look like I don't know what is. We have the truly brutal scenes of throwing people under cars, neck snapping and playing with freshly severed heads to the surreal yet hilarious comedy that is what makes Deadpool. It also seems that Tom Miller is holding onto Deadpools signature awareness of the 4th wall which fans have always loved about the killer. The animation of the scene is also truly beautiful, seemingly almost a true perfect blend between the cgi and live action footage to the point where I know I'm unsure as to what's one or the other at times.

Ryan Reynolds is a guarantee to be voicing the immortal psychopath as shown in the released footage. Reynolds last role as the antihero however was met with disappointment from fans in his role in the film Xmen Origins: Wolverine. This disappointment mostly came from the very odd transformation Wade Wilson went through towards the end of the film...

Lazer eyes, sword arms and teleportation powers? If someone could let me know what director Gavin Hood was thinking showing this to appeal to hardcore Deadpool fans I'd be very interested to understand. But as Ryan Reynold's hilarious role in the new test footage has shown we can't blame him for the far less than perfect X-Men Origins Deadpool, can we? Overall it is no doubt that fans having fingers, toes and duel katanas of death crossed in hopes for the single green light needed to make the long awaited Deadpool film a reality and with the new test footage, we're hoping that is not going to be a far fetched hope for much longer.

From Cartoon Capes to Live-Action Heroes: Why We Love Them

Back when I was a little kid, as opposed to the big kid I am today, Saturday mornings were dedicated to waking up at ungodly early hours of the morning, waking parents to make you cereal, which to they’ll never forgive and never forget and sitting down to watch our favourite caped crusaders and masked heroes on the TV. Every week we’d sit and watch how cartoon Batman would beat cartoon Joker, or how animated Superman could possibly save the day this time and it was perfection in my opinion. But the animated television versions of our favourite heroes are of late getting a very different treatment.

With the huge popularity and fan following that DC’s live action show Arrow on the CW network DC comics have added a number of new titles to their roster of live action shows. Batman prequel Gotham, Supernatural thriller Constantine and the red blur himself, Flash being highly anticipated from the company’s archive of comic history and wowing fans with teasers, trailers and Comic-con appearances all hinting at what each show has to offer. But television isn’t the only place where our heroes have hit the screen with great success.

This coming year we have Avengers 2: Age of Ultron to look forward to with bated breath. Marvel has created a truly successful franchise of big screen heroes with their film Avengers and solo films for the iconic heroes, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Incredible Hulk. The Joss Whedon directed Avengers Assemble went on to be the 3rd highest grossing box office film to date. This success has even gone on to encourage the latest gamble from DC in announcing this year the production their own superhero team up film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The film that will be going on to lay the foundation for DC Comics’ own Marvel style large scale film continuity for the whole of the Justice League!

But it has to be asked, why is that today’s audience prefers the grittier realistic live action films and television shows as compared to the animation that stole the hearts of our childhood? One argument I’d personally support is just that, many of us we were fans of such heroes as Batman, Iron Man, Superman and Hulk when we were but children, but now we’re fully grown adults. Maybe some of us only by law rather than mentally but it stands that we have matured with age and through holding onto our passions our love for our heroes has matured equally. From the Saturday morning cartoons of Batman and Robin our love has developed into appreciated the dark nuances of The Dark Knight, Man of Steel and the gritty yet hugely successful portrayal of the Emerald Archer from the talented Stephen Amell.

This change in tone can also be seen in our comics book storylines today. The dark storylines such as Batman’s Red Hood and Death of Robin storylines, Marvel Zombies, Kick-Ass and many more show that graphic novels are not the tame hero-saves-the-day stories of our fond youths anymore. They instead show a darker and grittier side to our characters in a way that peaks our interest. Therefore it’s my belief that our interests in how the genre of superheroes is presented to us have not exactly changed suddenly but have matured along with us, its passionate fanbase.