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Image: 20th Century Fox<\/cite><\/p>\n

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This, as it turned out, never amounted to much: Magneto\u2019s story was partially reposed into an eventual prequel\/reboot of the X-Men movies themselves, while the Gambit movie remained in development limbo almost until the moment Fox ceased to be an independent studio. But with Jackman on board for a new series of movies, X-Men Origins: Wolverine<\/em> was a go. And it didn\u2019t take long before viewers and filmmakers alike came to regret it.<\/p>\n

The basic story premise is solid enough. Co-written by honest-to-goodness Hollywood screenwriters David Benioff (before he was a Game of Thrones<\/em> showrunner) and Skip Woods (also a person who owned a word processor), the movie details the story of young James Howlett\u2019s transformation from 19th-century Canadian backwoodsman to beclawed secret agent, courtesy of the conspiratorial military project known as Weapon X. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s a backstory that has plenty of comic book street cred, and in the context of the movie, it allows for what, in theory, ought to have been some fun cameos from other mutant enlistees in the project that turned Wolverine into an adamantium-infused operative. There\u2019s Liev Schreiber returning as Sabretooth, Daniel Henney as Agent Zero (better known as Maverick to all two of his \u201990s-comic-reading fans), Kevin Durand as durable fatphobic icon Fred Dukes, and, most memorably of all, Ryan Reynolds making his debut as Wade Wilson, the wisecracking assassin known here simply as Weapon XI.<\/p>\n

Except for the small matter that he only manages to crack wise for approximately a single scene. After that, Origins<\/em> seems to misplace everything that comic readers love about Deadpool, perhaps leaving it on the film reels of another movie entirely. Reynolds\u2019 transformation into an ersatz version of the superpowered mercenary is a sight to behold. Gone is the iconic red-and-black costume, replaced with a combination of red pajama pants and a bare torso drawn over in black permanent marker, an ensemble that can best be described as Fraternity Prank Chic. <\/p>\n