‘Deadpool’ is a "romantic comedy disguises as a superhero movie", co-writer Paul Wernick has claimed.
The 2016 blockbuster – which stars Ryan Reynolds in the lead role and as his alter ego Wade Wilson – did far better at the box office than people expected and co-writer Wernick believes that was down to its love story between the main character and his girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin).
He said: "Rhett (Reese, co-writer) and I always try to inject heart and humour into our stories. ‘Deadpool’ was really a romantic comedy disguised as a superhero movie. We tested higher with women than men."
And Reynolds, 41, thinks audiences picked up on the passion of himself and the co-creators.
He said: "It seems silly to characterise a comic book movie as a passion project, but it was a bunch of people doing something they loved to an almost unhealthy degree.
"I think the audience connected with that. There’s something authentic about that."
Ryan is credited as a co-writer on ‘Deadpool 2’ and feels that Rhett and Paul are his "brothers".
Speaking to Empire magazine, he said: "[The credit] is something Pal and Rhett and I talked about at length. It doesn’t change anything in terms of our dynamic and how we work together. We are like brothers, the three of us."
And with an ‘X-Force’ movie on the way, the trio are keen for the franchise to run and run.
Paul laughed: "We’re trying to follow the ‘Iron Man’ model, which is, surprise first movie, average sequel that sets up a big ensemble movie. But we didn’t make ‘Deadpool 2’ to set up ‘X-Force’. That’s the direction the story took us … Soon they’ll be able to CG the character and Ryan won’t have to do anything."
Ryan Reynolds is finding it tougher than ever to perform his own stunts.
The 41-year-old actor is widely known for his athletic figure, but Ryan has admitted that performing high-energy stunts has become harder and harder over the years.
The ‘Deadpool 2’ star – who has daughters James, three, and 18-month-old Ines with his wife Blake Lively – told Mr Porter magazine: "One hundred per cent, I’ve always enjoyed getting a little bit older.
"You never bemoan a birthday. I like it. It’s getting a little bit more difficult with the stunt work stuff.
"I find that landing on cement isn’t hilarious any more. But I’ve been injury-free for a while, knock on wood. As I’ve gotten older, I’m more comfortable with who I am."
Meanwhile, Josh Brolin – who stars alongside Ryan in the new ‘Deadpool’ movie – recently admitted that the Canadian star convinced him to shoot the film.
The 50-year-old actor plays the role of Cable in the new Marvel superhero movie, and Thanos in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, and Josh has revealed he only accepted the offer for ‘Deadpool’ because of Ryan’s presence.
Josh – who has been married to his third wife, American model Kathryn Boyd, since 2016 – confessed: "I almost turned it down – but I have the greatest wife ever."
The Hollywood veteran craved some downtime after shooting ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ – but he felt unable to reject the chance to work with Ryan.
He said: "I was in the middle of ‘Avengers’, I was tired, and they said, ‘Do you want to do this thing?’
"I said, ‘I’ve already decided to do one of these movies [‘Avengers’]’, and [they said], ‘wait, do you want to do this other one?’
"And my wife said, ‘Why don’t you just read it?’
"And then I read it and it was really funny – and it’s Ryan Reynolds, man!"