Ryan Reynolds’ absence led to the butchering of Deadpool.

With Inside Out 2 boosting 2024’s summer sales by becoming the first film to break a billion dollars this year, it’s now on Deadpool 3 to keep this momentum flowing, which is set to release this month. While fans are expecting to see many beloved heroes appear onscreen, following the scale of this multiversal story, one variant that no one wants to see again is Deadpool from X-Men Origins.

Arguably on par with Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern, in terms of butchering a beloved comic figure, John Wick star Scott Adkins took the blame for the infamous version of the character.

Scott Adkins Took Part of the Blame for Deadpool in X-Men Origins

While his character starts out on a similar note as its comic-book counterpart, things go haywire by the time the movie reaches the third act. It sees the infamous bald-headed, mouthless Deadpool, thus stealing him off his most notable perk. This was a result of Ryan Reynolds‘ absence, who was only available for the early scenes of the character, which led to Scott Adkins jumping in for the remainder of the film.

Known for appearing in The Expendables 2, Doctor Strange, and John Wick: Chapter 4, Adkins showcased guilt for the abomination of the character and partly blamed himself for it. He further stressed that Reynolds must’ve been extremely annoyed by this iteration. However, while the recasting led to the design change, Adkins wasn’t allowed to give any input to the role.

He said (via /Film): I know that I was part of the problem with the first version of Deadpool. But I was just doing as I was told … Ryan [Reynolds] wasn’t even there by the time we shot the Deadpool stuff; I think he was off doing something else. When he saw what they were gonna do, he must have been really annoyed. Really annoyed. But I was just, like ‘Hang on a minute.’ Because I went over there thinking I was gonna be the full costume and everything.

While both Adkins and Reynolds would love to forget this chapter of their life, according to the actor, things could’ve been much worse if the other designs were chosen.

Ryan Reynolds Hold the Studio Responsible for X-Men Origins Debacle

Although X-Men Origins registered a decent box-office collection of $373M from a $150M budget, it bombed critically, as it scored 38% among critics on the Tomatometer. Speaking of the movie’s mishaps, Ryan Reynolds stressed that most of the wrongs in Origins had to do with Studio mandates. He shared (via Entertainment Weekly):

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

Fortunately, a few years after its disastrous performance, Reynolds would successfully bring back the character to the big screen, whose threequel is now inching for a massive opening.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is available to stream on Disney Plus.