Ryan Reynolds has been a nonstop source of Deadpool intel lately. The anti-heroic comic book movie recently started filming in Vancouver, B.C., and the actor has sent out a near constant stream of photos and tidbits over social media. And today is no different, as he has revealed our first look at Negasonic Teenage Warhead.
We recently learned that the character is indeed going to be in the movie, and that newcomer Brianna Hildebrand will play the goth-styled mutant. And by newcomer, we mean that Hildebrand has three credits listed on IMDb, including this one, and of the other two, neither has been released.
The unusual name comes from a song by metal band Monster Magnet, and it’s the alter ego of Ellie Phimister. Compared to her appearance in the comics, this incarnation of the character is actually pretty subdued. Sure, she’s got the requisite goth make up, pasty skin, and all black attire, but it’s nothing when put against her wild hair (no close-cropped locks there) and intricate latticework of straps that compose most of her outfits on the page. She does, however, certainly look like a brooding teen.
Created by maverick comic writer Grant Morrison in 2001 during his New X-Men run, Negasonic Teenage Warhead isn’t the biggest character. A resident of the fictional town of Genosha, which hasn’t been too kind to mutants in the past, she’s a student in Emma Frost’s telepathy class. When she complains that she’s being haunted by repeated nightmares (like 50 times in one night) where every person in town is exterminated, this vision turns out be eerily prescient, as she dies in a Sentinel invasion.
While that’s her story in the comics, it doesn’t sound like that’s how it goes down in Deadpool. What we’ve heard of the movie doesn’t exactly jibe with that. We already know that T.J. Miller’s Weasel is going to be Deadpool’s sidekick, so it begs the question as to where exactly she fits in. Does he have room in his life for more strays? You can bet there’s always room for a gifted telepath with precognitive abilities.
Ryan Reynolds confirmed that Deadpool will indeed be rated R with a hilarious April Fool’s Day prank, which is a huge relief to fans. The story of Wade Wilson, a Special-Forces-operator-turned-mercenary, who then is subjected to experiments that give him accelerated healing powers (similar to Wolverine), isn’t exactly PG-13 friendly. Full of violence and profanity, as well as the Merc with a Mouth breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience, it has a dark sense of humor, and needs to be R-rated to pull this off right.
In addition to Ryan Reynolds, T.J. Miller, and Brianna Hildebrand, Deadpool stars Gina Carano as Angel Dust, Morena Baccarin as Copycat, and Ed Skrein as Ajax, and opens February 12, 2016.
