Summary

• The mishandling of Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine led to creatives calling Rob Liefield for help.
• Liefield pleaded with studios for essential changes after knowing Wade Wilson's fate in the film.
• Liefield tried to influence a post-credits scene to redeem Deadpool, but eventually the character had a brighter future.

While Deadpool is now one of the most popular characters to have come out of the Fox X-Men era, his on-screen debut in MCU was in its infancy, and it proved to be one of the most controversial entries in the Wolverine saga due to a number of odd choices for the film. However, one of the most egregious errors in judgment came in the form of how the character, Deadpool, was handled.

Deapool had grown in popularity among comic book fans for his wise-cracking attitude and his fourth wall breaks, elevating the assassin into a character with charisma and sass. The casting of Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins was a welcome surprise, as Deadpool had actually stated his appearance resembles Ryan Reynolds in a 2004 comic. But, when the Merc with a Mouth had their trap sewn shut, it was a huge misstep. The creatives involved acknowledged this after the movie came out when they called Liefield to help save the character.

How Liefeld Tried To Help Fix Marvel's Movie Deadpool

Deadpool Could Have Had A Hopeful Ending

However, Liefield was already aware of how the character was being handled in X-Men Origins: Woverine, and he pled with studios earlier to make some essential changes. Having been a writer and artist that was heavily involved with the X-Men and its connecting characters, and even having contributed significantly with original characters like Deadpool and Cable, Liefield frequently spoke with creatives for the X-Men movies, especially when his characters were involved.

As a result, Liefield had privileged information regarding how the story of X-Men Origins was shaping up, and particularly what the fate of Reynold's Deadpool would be in the movie. The idea for Deadpool was to have Wade Wilson killed off-screen by Sabretooth, before being revived as "Weapon XI." In addition, the character who is famous for his dialogue had his mouth sewn shut. Liefield was obviously disappointed about X-Men Origins handling of the character, and he made his opinion known.

Ahead of the film's release, he continued to plead that the character get some sort of redemption in a post-credits scene, where they would be seen with their mask, or at the very least speaking. This could have generated some excitement for the character and helped pave the way for a more comics-accurate future depiction, but instead, the film ended with his severed head and hand twitching. After the disappointment and reactions to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the studios saw the light, and subsequently called Liefield for help, and thankfully, Deadpool received a much brighter future.