UPDATE: Variety is reporting the story as well, which means it's all but confirmed. Congratulations Ryan Reynolds!

After X-Men Origins: Wolverine made an inexplicable amount of money over the weekend, it was really only a matter of time before the ball got rolling on a sequel or a spin-off. While Hugh Jackman is presumably off somewhere sharpening his claws to prepare for the next go-round, it's Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool who is the first confirmed character to make a return. Probably.

MTV Splash Page heard from an anonymous source "close to Fox" that the Deadpool spin-off film will be "a complete exploration of this unique character — his origins, his emergence as the Merc with the Mouth.” We've known for a while that Deadpool and Gambit were both up for spinoff consideration, and given the terrible treatment Deadpool got in Wolverine, he's definitely the one who deserves more screentime.

Does this mean the project is in the works and Ryan Reynolds has already received a fat check? Probably not. But who knows, we might wind up seeing a Deadpool movie before we get another Wolverine one, which was fine by me-- after Wolverine I think I'd rather see Hugh Jackman singing and dancing next time.