The Deadpool sequel looks like it’s going to have more of the wacky, self-referential superhero action that fans loved in the first movie, but the original plan for Deadpool 2 involved a different kind of superhero action: fatherhood. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, star Ryan Reynolds said that he and co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick initially pictured the sequel focusing on Deadpool as a dad.
Reynolds explained that the movie would’ve been set five years after the first one and Deadpool would have a child, but they immediately realized “it was totally untenable” when they sat down to write it. Instead, the sequel is about Wade Wilson wanting to have a kid even though he can’t, which Reynolds says makes it “kind of a family film masquerading as a comic book film.” Reynolds doesn’t offer any specific details about what else would’ve happened in this version of the movie, but it’s safe to assume that this is the right choice.
A killer suddenly becoming a father and having to juggle his parental responsibilities with his murder responsibilities would’ve been pretty hacky, especially since it would also have required Deadpool to make jokes about how hacky it is in order to try and twist the trope. Deadpool trying to protect a different kid, not because he’s the kid’s father but because it’s the right thing to do, is a more interesting motivation for a typically self-obsessed character like Deadpool.