‘Deadpool’ Director Says He Exited the Franchise Because of Ryan Reynolds

In a report from Men’s Health we learned that Tim Miller who directed the first hit movie was driven out of the franchise by Ryan Reynolds. It started out with creative differences but Reynolds overall possessiveness of the character made it so he had nearly no wiggle room for directing how he wanted to. In an interview with KCRW he told us how he began to part ways with the franchise.

According to Miller, “It became clear that Ryan wanted to be in control of the franchise. You can work that way as a director, quite successfully, but I can’t. I don’t mind having a debate, but if I can’t win, I don’t want to play. And I don’t think you can negotiate every creative decision, there’s too many to make. So Ryan’s the face of the franchise, and he was the most important component of that, by far. So if he decides he wants to control it, then he’s going to control it.”

He also says that the lack of creative control will be the reason he never works with James Cameron again. He just finished directing Terminator: Dark Fate and has come away with it a similar feeling of not being able to completely control the situation. He said, “It has nothing to do with whatever trauma I have from the experience. It’s more that I just don’t want to be in a situation again where I don’t have the control to do what I think is right.”

And to be completely fair we know that Reynolds is attached to Deadpool. So when he has a vision for the character it’s probably so clear in his mind that he needs it to be that way. Not to mention that when you act you sometimes become the character you are playing. Method acting is very real and can sometimes lead to misunderstandings. Even Joaquin Phoenix was snarky on the set of the Joker a few times which he later apologized for. They get so inside their own heads that it becomes hard to discern where one stops and the other begins.

Ryan Reynolds’ vision of what Deadpool is brought the character to life and is what got the character a stand alone movie in the first place. If he were to take over the entire franchise it would most likely do very well. So with Miller having gone there probably isn’t that much difference in how they will film. Maybe someday soon we will get to see a Deadpool directed by Reynolds, though admittedly that would be a bit much on him to star and direct. It’s been done before, but it’s very hard work.