Plenty of blame exists regarding what happened with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but Ryan Reynolds indicates that Fox had the most to do with what went wrong. Everyone has their ranking of Fox’s X-Men movies, but X-Men Origins: Wolverine is usually toward the bottom for most. The Marvel prequel film had many controversial moments, including Wolverine’s CGI claws, but it may be best known for how it botched Deadpool’s first live-action appearance.
The film performed well at the box office, grossing $373 million worldwide on a $150 million budget. However, audiences and critics tore it to shreds, leaving it with a 38% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 58% audience score. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Deadpool & Wolverine star Reynolds reveals his true feelings about the film. While he doesn’t directly name Fox, he says most of what went wrong had to do with “studio mandates,” and Fox was the primary studio behind the movie.
“There’s a lot of misfires that have nothing to do with the core creative team, that are more studio mandates. I actually think there’s a lot of good things.”
What Went Wrong With X-Men Origins: Wolverine
While Wolverine had plenty of star power, thanks to the first X-Men trilogy, it wasn’t enough to save this film. X-Men Origins: Wolverine suffered from a script that felt rushed and riddled with bland dialogue. The film is also clustered with an abundance of mutants to cram in fan service, while also trying to keep the focus on Wolverine’s origins. On a technical level, there is also plenty of bad CGI, including an infamous shot of Logan examining his new adamantium claws in a mirror.
The worst mistake Origins made was its depiction of Deadpool. After briefly appearing in the film’s opening sequence, Wade returns in the movie’s climax as a version so far from what audiences know the character to be. This portrayal had his mouth sewn shut, laser eyes, and large, metal swords protruding from his hands. Audiences were appalled by this bizarre creative decision, and it wouldn’t be until 2016’s Deadpool that the character would be redeemed. Fox even joked about this mistake in Deadpool 2, where Wade travels back in time and kills the Origins version.
Fortunately, the Deadpool movies reminded comic book readers why he’s a fantastic character and introduced him to a new generation of viewers. Deadpool & Wolverine will bring the Merc With The Mouth into the MCU, and early box office projections are a strong indicator of how popular the character has become. X-Men Origins: Wolverine‘s version continues to be a hilarious joke, but it’s still a massive mistake that the studio could have avoided.
