A Point of Geeks report
Now that Star Wars: The Force Awakens has hit theaters and become a historic box-office success, the next movie destined to become a blockbuster is Fox's Deadpool. The R-rated comic book adaptation is expected to expand the boundaries of what is acceptable in a superhero movie. In February, the world will get their first introduction to the Merc with a Mouth and the world just might not know what is in store for it.
[[yt:9vN6DHB6bJc]]
Director Tim Miller is the person that has guided the big screen adaptation from concept video to feature film adaptation and he has not been shy about speaking on his passion project.
This Christmas we were gifted our second trailer for Deadpool, which gave audiences an even more in-depth glance at the humor and superhero mayhem coming to theaters soon. In an interview with Empire, Miller breaks down the newest trailer and lets fans in on his thought process behind everything from the setting, to the X-Men, the villains, and a whole lot more.
The Setting
"I always like the way the writers described the city in the script which was ‘a pre-post apocalyptic Detroit’. And that's about as specific as they got. And I liked that. You know, it doesn't say that it's anywhere specific. I think there are some certain geographical clues in our story in that everybody knows that the X-Men live in upstate New York-ish and so we can’t be too far away. But the idea was that it should look like a shitty place because you want to set Deadpool and his world apart as something different: grittier, nastier, you know, more like Daredevil where it's down in the streets where he’s dealing with small-time shit that the X-Men and their shiny hi-tech world don’t deal with."
This is the first R-rated Marvel film in decades and it would certainly be a wasted opportunity to not make the world of Deadpool feel lived-in and gritty. It's interesting that it seems that Deadpool will be the flash of color in a grey and immoral landscape, which fits his character perfectly. It's also comforting that they are taking an approach similar to Marvel, where characters will be given specific spaces to to be heroic. So having Deadpool deal mostly with small-time crime, only to run into the larger world of the X-Men, can only help to create this growing cinematic universe that Fox is fostering.
Deadpool's Weapons of Choice
"Those are his Desert Eagles. The classics. If you haven’t ever held one of those things, they weigh about 50lbs each. They’re huge, heavy pistols that can basically blow your head apart. So they’re pretty powerful!"
All you have to do is watch the trailer to see what kind of damage Deadpool will hand out. The 3-for-1 headshot is the type of black humor that the character is known for and shows one of the reasons why the movie will earn its R rating.
Gina Carano as Angel Dust
"Her powers in the comics are - she’s a little like the Hulk, in that the angrier she gets, her adrenaline sort of activates this super strength. So the angrier she gets, the harder she fights and stronger she is, so that’s her power in the comics and we try to play that up a little bit in the fight sequences. But Gina herself, she was amazing: in hindsight, I can’t even imagine considering an actress who didn’t have the kind of history that Gina did, because just on our budget level and the way we wanted to do these fights to keep them grounded there was no way that a stunt person could step in and do what she did, which was just incredibly physical. She would do these scenes with the stunt guy and then we’d take him out and she’d do them by herself so we’d have these clean actions and it was amazing. She’s got photographic reflexes and every fucking take she was going all out. It was great."
Gina Carano has steadily had her presence felt in the film world after her debut in Haywire and transitioning from the brutal world of MMA. Her role as Angel Dust may end up being her most memorable to date and it seems perfectly crafted for her skillset.
Simon Kinberg on T.J. Miller
"We have an embarrassment of riches of T.J riffing lines, some of it scripted and obviously a lot of it is improvised with T.J. and he also works closely with Tim and the writers. But for that particular moment that he’s reacting to seeing Wade scarred for the first time, I mean, he just went and went and went. Honestly... There was one take that was probably ten different versions of it - they were all improvised and were all fucking hilarious. And they’re so specific and insane and I think could only come out of T.J.’s brain. Like, eventually a gag reel or something on the DVD somewhere we’ll put it all together and just show some single takes of it and you can see how gifted and scary his brain is."
T.J. Miller has been making a name for himself for years. With a character as impulsive and improvisational as Deadpool, and actor Ryan Reynolds, it was crucial to find an actor that can match his rapid-fire wit and timing. From the sounds of the quote, Miller has exceeded expectations for the role. Producer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Fantastic Four) gushes over the comedic impact of Miller as Deadpool's sidekick and weapons supplier. Even in Miller's bad movies (Transformers: Age of Extinction) he manages a way to steal the show. It will be a blast to see him have the freedom to roam in the madcap world of Deadpool.
Colossus
"We got a big old fight with him in the third act which is great. He's always been one of my favourite characters just because he’s just so visually impressive and you know, when you’re a comic book reader, the writing’s important, but also you want these incredible looking characters and action and I always loved him from my early days collecting comics. But to me he was always this giant behemoth, and to do it as sort of a normal-size guy didn't seem to fit the character, and more importantly I think we got a lot of value out of him being larger than life and, you know, this fantastic physical presence in - and I mean fantastic like otherworldly - this otherwise very grounded film. And he really connects us to the X-Men universe too which is a good thing in small doses."
Not only do we get a glimpse of two X-Men, in Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Colossus, but we also see the Blackbird. The Blackbird is the official ship of the X-Men and is a strong visual connection to their universe. Daniel Cudmore will not be returning to play the role, as we are getting a brand new iteration of Colossus this time around. Stefan Kapicic has been chosen as the replacement and along with modern technology, we will be getting a Colossus that is closest to the comic book version that has ever been seen.
Blind Al
"She plays a role similar that she does in the comics, although in the comics it has some darker aspects as to why she’s with Deadpool that we don't really explore, but I think she’s great. And it’s funny, because we filmed all the stuff in the apartment - that was the first stuff we filmed, it was the beginning of our shoot - and for the first time, I mean, for me, even living with the script for so long, I really just felt this love for Wade as the character because I could see their interaction and ‘I like ya’. Ryan’s likeable in and of itself, he can be doing horrible things to children and you would still like the guy, because he’s just that nice. But, in this case, Deadpool does some things that are hard to stomach and not normal things that heroes would do, but to see their relationship was a really, really beautiful thing. And I think where it falls in the movie really makes us root for him even more because he's going through this horrible thing but he still has very human scenes with [Al]. And Leslie’s just fucking amazing."
It sounds as if they will stay away from the fact that Blind Al is essentially Deadpool's prisoner in the comics. However, they will surely keep the low-blow banter that defines their "friendship." Wade Wilson's "homelife" is a huge part of the source material and has elements that feel almost like a sitcom. Again, this could be another refreshing aspect to the movie, which will set it apart from other superhero flicks.
Negasonic Teenage Warhead
"I think Deadpool wishes she’d keep her mouth shut more than she does in the film! Because she’s quite snarky. But, you know, her whole attitude is this disaffected teen who thinks Deadpool’s just a douchebag. And so that’s her whole attitude. She’s really not that silent in the film or at least she’s silently surly because she just can’t be bothered to engage with this asshole. That’s the basics of her personality: silently shaming, judgmental personality."
Chances are that you have never heard of Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Don't worry, you are not alone. However, it seems that her character has a very specific purpose and function within the story. Not to mention that her "silent shaming," will certainly contrast with the non-stop quips of Deadpool.
Negasonic Teenage Warhead's Power Set
"Her power, I mean, we chose her because we wanted a trainee for Colossus in the film and the writers and I just fell in love with her name. It’s just so out there and so Deadpool and it was Grant Morrison who named her, so we knew we had to get her in there. And then we thought, well, we’re going to need to make her powers fit with who she feels like she is in the movie and so to me it’s just like other characters in the Marvel universe, like Nitro, for instance, whose power is to just explode parts of their body. But we did try to do it so that it wasn’t just a simple, ‘oh, I can explode’, she can transfer the force of the explosion down so she can move upwards - she can put it into a punch if she wanted to. So it was really just her fist exploding as she hit somebody. we tried to mix it up, even though we didn’t use that particular thing in the movie, but it was the idea. Actually, we did use it in the movie, it’s just not in the movie now!"
It's clear that the addition of Colossus' steel skin and Warhead's explosive powers will push the gritty underworld of Deadpool further into comic book territory. As Miller describes, it sounds that it's a certainty that Warhead will live up to her namesake and deliver explosive power.
Vanessa
"Is there such a thing as a conventional relationship, because I think every love is different! When we cast her in her role in the film, again we stayed true to her origin in the comic, but I really wanted somebody who could keep up with Wade, because there really has to be a reason for these people to fall in love. And he’s so unique a character that she had to be unique too. Personally, I never understood the man who wants to find the wife who’s just going to do what he says and adore him and things like that and she was never meant to be the damsel in distress sort of relationship, it was always meant to be a woman that could keep up with him. Or, in many ways I think you’ll see in the movie, she’s a lot stronger than he is and that was always the goal. I love super-strong female characters. And incidentally, as we’re screening the film, the women love it. The love story is really strong. Real strong."
If there is a love story within the Deadpool movie it certainly has to be an unconventional one. Morena Baccarin (Gotham), who plays Vanessa Carlysle, has been having a good run as of late and this may be her chance to become an action star. Fans of Marvel Comics know that the character goes to become the shapeshifter, Copycat. Who has the ability to not only change her appearance, but also mimic powers as well. The character has the potential to take over the void Jennifer Lawrence will leave after she departs the role of Mystique, after X-Men: Apocalypse. While Baccarin is not heavily featured in the trailer, she figures to have her presence felt.
Fourth Wall
"I didn’t have any trouble with it at all. I guess if you didn’t know the character and feel like that was the right way to handle him, it could be a little difficult to figure out where and when to deploy it, but because I knew Deadpool did that and I was comfortable with it - it was one of the things I liked about him - we tried to do it. I mean, it was built in from the get-go, so it was kind of planned. We did go back when we did some additional photography. We liked it so much that we got even a little more. And we tried to use it more for an opportunity to just lay down exposition on people which I think is cool. Because you could use that as a crutch, but I don’t think we did at all. I’m sure I’m going to get skewered by fans for one thing or another. But he’s really complicated and there’s stuff we couldn’t - like the schizophrenia is a big thing in the comics, but you couldn't really explore that in the film. It was just too much to load into an origin story, an introduction."
Deadpool is a larger than life character. That is probably why the character has already transitioned into other mediums successfully, such as video games and animation. Fitting all of the various aspects of his, literally, schzophrenic personality into a two hour movie could feel rushed or overbearing. Much like any movie, cuts have to be made to streamline the story. However, the way that Deadpool interacts with the audience will surely be mimicked by other films. Mostly due to how much creative thought Miller and the writers have put into breaking the fourth wall.
The Next Contender Is...
"I’d love to see Deadpool fight Batman - no, I'm just kidding, that’s not even in the Marvel family! I’d love to see Deadpool go up against Taskmaster who’s another Marvel total fuckin’ badass. But if I was to stay inside the Fox family, I would like to see him fight X23. the female Wolverine. The female clone of Wolverine. It would be totally messy, but just to have it be a girl against - you know, she’s young, in the comics she’s about 16 or so - but to see a young girl kicking the shit out of him would be pretty fucking awesome."
Warner Bros owns the rights to Batman, while Fox has the rights to Deadpool and the X-Men. So, we probably will never see Batman fight Deadpool on the big screen. However, we do have the next best thing right here!
[[yt:wAg2m5UlBYw]]
Since Fox owns the rights to X23, it would actually be a fun possibility to see on-screen. However, is Miller throwing fans a clue? Probably. Actor Hugh Jackman has been participating in the marketing of the film and there have been other various clues pointing to a Wolverine cameo in Deadpool. We will find out in two short months.
What did like or dislike about what Tim Miller had to say? Are you more excited for the movie?
Create a post
Source: Point of Geeks