Ryan Reynolds has never shied away from poking fun at some of his past mistakes as an actor, and Green Lantern is one role that he frequently takes aim at in a tongue in cheek way. While the 2011 movie certainly has its fair share of fans, it was also something of a disaster, and there was plenty in it to make fun of (the visual effects are somewhere near the top of that list).
During an online press conference for Free Guy, Reynolds made it clear that he's laughing at himself, not at those who worked hard on a blockbuster like Green Lantern.
Deadpool featured quite a few references to the DC Comics movie, and Reynolds elaborated on why he had Wade Wilson point out that he didn't want to be put in a certain type of suit. As it turns out, that was a line the actor came up with himself while they were working on the R-Rated box office hit.
"I wrote it into the Deadpool script, I think where my character says something like, 'Please don't make this suit green or animated,' when he's being shoved into the superhero factory or whatever," Reynolds recalled. "And I noticed that it felt good to shine a light on that for a second."
"So I don't know, it's just something I've always done, but the most significant thing that's ever happened in my career is laughing at myself always. Like, since the start of the work. And there's plenty there to laugh at. Everybody has their own...you lay in bed at night and you think, 'Oh God, this thing I did was so awful or silly or ridiculous.' I think that's got this fuel for lots of stuff."
Joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe will give Reynolds plenty of chances to poke fun at Fox's X-Men franchise, and with rumours swirling that he's signed a huge deal with Marvel Studios, we'll hopefully see that become a reality sooner rather than later. Right now, his future as the Merc with the Mouth is uncertain.