T.J. Miller to Join Deadpool Because This is Going to Be the Most Fun Superhero Movie Yet

By  · Published on January 6th, 2015

HBO

Ryan Reynolds may have just had a baby (with wife Blake Lively), but the addition to his life that matters most is this: according to The Wrap, T.J. Miller is in talks to join the cast of Deadpool. You should know the actor for his role on HBO’s hilarious series Silicon Valley and, because we’ve recommended it plenty, the short film Successful Alcoholics, which he co-wrote. His voice will also be familiar to anyone who has seen the How to Train Your Dragon movies and Big Hero 6, in which he voices Marvel superhero “Fred” (aka Fredzilla).

In the report on this casting at The Wrap, he’s recognized for having been part of three of the top-grossing movies of last year, and that would make you think he’s a bigger name than he is. Two of those movies were animated features and the third was the latest Transformers installment, where he disappointingly got killed in the first act. Yeah, I don’t care about spoiling that. It made me too angry for me to keep it in. He was its only redeeming element, briefly.

Accompanying Miller and Reynolds in the comic book adaptation, if his own negotiations work out, is English rapper-turned-actor Ed Skrein. I don’t have strong feelings about him. I don’t even remember the guy from Game of Thrones and only recently learned his name because he’s the one taking over the Transporter franchise as the character formerly played by Jason Statham. Is he as goofy as the other two guys attached to the movie? I don’t know. Does he need to be? I guess there should be some serious characters in Deadpool. Maybe he’s a very serious villain.

And we don’t want anyone who’ll upstage the titular, fourth-wall-breaking “Merc with a Mouth,” which is something I could definitely see the typically loud Miller doing. There’s no real hint at the roles Miller and Skrein are playing yet (Miller is only reported as being offered a part that compliments Deadpool’s humor), as we haven’t even a clue what sort of plot Deadpool will be involved in for his first solo effort. Something better than his last movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we all hope.

Reynolds is reprising his part from that other X-Men series spin-of as the fan-favorite anti-hero with healing powers but a horribly scarred skin and face. Deadpool will be the first of three movies in Fox’s mutant Marvel superhero franchise being released in 2016. It bows in time for Valentine’s Day on February 12th, then X-Men: Apocalypse is out May 27th followed by Gambit, starring Channing Tatum, which just anounced a release date of October 7th.

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Christopher Campbell began writing film criticism and covering film festivals for a zine called Read, back when a zine could actually get you Sundance press credentials. He's now a Senior Editor at FSR and the founding editor of our sister site Nonfics. He also regularly contributes to Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes and is the President of the Critics Choice Association's Documentary Branch.