Ryan Reynolds to Reprise His Role as the ‘Merc with a Mouth’ in Fox’s Deadpool Movie

A highly skilled assassin with Wolverine's healing ability, an abundance of scars (of both the mental and physical variety), a lack of complete sanity, and a warped sense of wisecracking humor, Deadpool is one of Marvel's most intriguing characters. Ryan Reynolds played Deadpool in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine and he's now in final negotiations to portray the anti-hero once again in Fox's recently announced Deadpool movie.

Bolstering what many expected, Deadline reports that Ryan Reynolds is set to reprise his role as Deadpool, aka Wade Wilson, in the upcoming film from 20th Century Fox and Marvel Comics. Tentatively titled Deadpool, the movie is slated to hit theaters on February 12th, 2016, just a few months before Fox's X-Men: Apocalypse comes out on the big screen.

Fox officially announced they were moving forward with a Deadpool movie after a pro-Deadpool social media surge occurred this past summer in the wake of test footage featuring the character going viral.

Visual effects wizard Tim Miller will make his feature directorial debut with Deapool off a script by Zombieland writers Rhett Rheese and Paul Wernick. Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg will produce the project, which starts production in March.

Since the Merc with a Mouth ended up drastically transformed by the end of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, you can expect the standalone Deadpool film to either start fresh and dismiss that storyline's existence, or at the very least, precede it. We'll keep Daily Dead readers updated on further announcements.

For those unfamiliar with Deadpool, we have his official comic book character bio (via Marvel.com):

“Deadpool possesses a superhuman healing factor derived from that of the mutant Wolverine that allows him to regenerate damaged or destroyed areas of his cellular structure at a rate far greater than that of an ordinary human. As such, he can regrow severed limbs or vital organs. The speed at which this healing factor works varies in direct proportion to the severity of the damage Deadpool suffers. This healing factor also affords Deadpool a virtual immunity to poisons and most drugs, as well as an enhanced resistance to diseases and an extended life span. Unlike Wolverine (James Howlett), Wolverine’s natural healing factor, Deadpool’s is mentally driven to a partial extent.

Deadpool is an extraordinary hand-to-hand combatant and is skilled in multiple unarmed combat techniques. He is a master of assassination techniques, is an excellent marksman, and is highly skilled with bladed weapons (frequently carrying two swords strapped to his back). He is fluent in Japanese, German, Spanish, amongst other languages.

First Appearance: New Mutants #98 (1990)”

To celebrate his return to playing the Merc with a Mouth, Reynolds, a longtime fan of the character, tweeted an image of fan-made gun-shell Deadpool artwork with the following caption:

"Uh... It's Chimichanga Time."