Deadpool: A Typical Tuesday

Welcome to this week’s edition of Superhero Shorts where I take a look at a different superhero themed short film and get the creator of the film to answer a few interview questions. This week I’m talking with not just one, but two co-creators of the Deadpool fan-film that just came out a little over a week ago, Keith Brooks co-writer and director, and Trevor Garner co-writer and Deadpool. You can check out their short, or you can visit their YouTube Channel for a gag reel and some great promos for the short, or you can watch the film right below.

I don’t know a whole lot about Deadpool other than he regenerates similar to Wolverine, he’s a smart-ass, he’s more of an anti-hero than a hero, and he tends to break the fourth wall a lot. This short is a great mix of both action and comedy and I think it really hits the comedy perfectly, starting out with some nicely made opening titles with a bit of fun stuck in there as well. Though I might say that the titles’ flashing started to get irritating towards the end of the opening credits. It’s got a great almost Family Guy style of humor to Deadpool with his completely off the wall comments. Unlike many fan-films, the acting is pretty good as well, including all the regular soldiers. It’s one of my favorite live-action fan films I’ve covered so far, right up there with Batman: Dead End. But enough from me, let’s hear from the writers of the flick.

Bubbawheat: What was it that first made you decide to make a Deadpool movie?

Trevor Garner:One day Keith calls me up and goes “we should make a Deadpool movie, and you should be Deadpool.” So I said, “Okay”, and the rest is spandex-clad history.

Keith Brooks: We had finished shooting the most ridiculous film you’ll ever see, called To Wong With Kung Fu: Thanks for Everything, a 6 Year Old and an 8 Year Old (awesome title, huh?), and we were looking for a follow up. We tossed around the idea of doing a Spiderman fan film, and a horror movie feature, both of which I think we’ll still do. One of the suggestions was DP, and something about the idea of doing a Deadpool movie stuck out. X-men Origins had left a sour taste in a lot of people’s mouths, and there had been a lot of fan films of the character, but they all kind of followed the same pattern. Deadpool doing this gravelly voiced thing while the action was at a minimum. Some of them are really good, but we felt we could still add something to the mix. We knew Reynolds would have his own Deadpool movie coming out, and with Hollywood trends what they are, you can kind of guess the road they would take.

So the idea began to formulate when we started brainstorming things that we could do that would be different than other fan films and what Hollywood would do. Yellow thought boxes were something I had never seen in a film. Everyone does the gravelly voice, and it works. There are even comics where it talks about how disgusting Wade’s voice sounds. But in other comics he supposedly sounds like “Dick Clark on a bender,” “A Hanson brother,” or “Maple Syrup, slightly stirred.” I don’t know what all of those mean, but I thought that Trevor’s choice was symbolic of the fact we were doing a different Deadpool than the others that had been seen. And then there was the fact we weren’t going to do a standard superhero film. That, given Deadpool’s personality, he didn’t have to win. He’s not a hero so we didn’t need a villain. It was going to break a lot of conventional rules for what a comic book film is supposed to be, and that made me want to do it. Sorry that’s a lot. I’m amped on Diet Coke.

BW: No, that’s awesome, it just means I have to write a lot less. Deadpool is a character that many people outside of comics are only familiar with via the Wolverine movie which is a very different version. What did you think of Ryan Reynolds performance, at least in the first half of the movie, and do you think Hollywood can actually make a decent Deadpool movie?

TG: Personally, I love Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool. If they ever get around to making this fabled Deadpool film, I think he’s the perfect actor for the role. I thought he did a great job in Wolverine with the script and lines he was given, even though that version of the character was a departure from Wade Wilson/Deadpool in the comics.

KB: I also think Ryan Reynolds was awesome. And to be honest the other guy, Scott Adkins [the stuntman], was fantastic too. It’s just the story sucked giant donkey testicles. I think Hollywood made the mistake of thinking “no one gives a shit about this Deadpool character,” and they were very very wrong. Now whether or not they will make a good adaptation is up in the air. I think it depends on if Reynolds stays attached. I think he’s a powerful enough name now to pull some weight. He’s a fan of the character and will be able to call some shots and I think that could be the movie’s saving grace. I honestly think it’s more likely now, with the success of The Avengers, and dependent on how Spiderman does. Every comic character will eventually have their own movie, we just have to wait and see.

TG:Can Hollywood make a decent Deadpool movie? I fucking hope so. They’ve done pretty well recently with other Marvel books like Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Avengers, etc., so I’m going to stay optimistic about it.

BW: I actually talked with Eric Green a few weeks ago about his Uncanny X-Men series, can you tell me what the connection is between Bean Dip Productions and Throwback Studios?

KB:Eric is the coolest fucking dude in the world. I play Beast in the x-men series, and Trevor plays Havok. So we’re all really good friends. We invited Eric to come out on set, because he’s a) a great actor that doesn’t get enough credit for it b) comic books are kind of his thing and c) he’s always great to have on any set. So if you watch the movie, he plays the dude that gets hit in the face with the flying pistol. He was kind enough to also help promote the film. But that’s the connection, just a filmmaker community. And there’s some other X-men in there as well. Executive producers Jevocas Green and Zak Vaudo (who also plays Banshee and was a producer for this film), along with Digger Curtis (who plays Lange) and Tyler Sutherland (Nightcrawler).

TG: The short answer is that we’re friends, and support each others’ projects, and sometimes work on each others’ projects.

BW: I think Trevor is definitely the best part about about your short, he really nails both the humor and the action. Which do you think was most important to get right?

TG: Wow, thanks. Seriously, that’s a huge compliment. Personally, I felt like getting both right was uber necessary for the character of Deadpool. For all of his antics and whatnot, he’s still a bad ass killer.

Yep, totally a bad-ass killer.

KB: Trevor’s an incredible actor and for me it was just step back and watch him go to work. We had some interesting and intense conversations before the shoot, but he had such an initial grasp on the character by the time we started that you could literally see his body language change when he put on the mask. To me the part that sells his Deadpool is in between the comedy and the action. The moment when he kills Slim Jim, when he already had him defeated but goes out of his way to butcher him, that’s the heart of Deadpool. This man is a lunatic killer. And Trevor knew that. But on top of it all is this lunacy that hides it all, that makes you think you’re watching a superhero. But in reality, you’re watching a man kill people for money. I think Trevor pulls that off extremely well.

BW: How do you end up going from a violent comic book anti-hero to a webseries about adults playing kids? Can you talk a little bit about Thanks for Everything?

TG & KB: Uh, we’re kind of…weird.

KB: Well, it’s based on that To-Wong movie I talked about earlier. The film was a blast doing (it comes out in Augustish on Youtube), and when we were showing footage to people it made them laugh and giggle and wet themselves, so we thought we had something there. Then our Director of Photography for To Wong and the Executive Producer/Target for Deadpool, Anthony McHie started pushing us into making it into a web series.

TG: Jokes on him, he’s directing the series now.

KB: The ideas started rolling out, we thought it was funny, good times. So we’ll start shooting that in the fall, and have some pretty cool surprises for those foolish enough to follow it. tell people to give us money. i’ll blow you kisses.

TG: It’s about the bizarre adventures of 6 year old Timmy (played by me) and 8 year old Jimmy (played by Keith). We’re super excited about it. Keith and I are constantly calling each other at absurd hours to talk about episode ideas and bacon and things. All kinds of strange and hilarious things happen to these kids and their friends (all played by adults). Just to give you a small taste, we have episodes titled “Cootie-Face”, “Fred-O-Phile”, and “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things”, to name a few. We’re weird. We’re trying to raise some funds right now to help produce the best first season possible. And I really don’t want to do naked car washes again. So check out our page at IndieGoGo.com/JimmyandTimmy to find out more, donate, and check out a super awesome promo video featuring Keith, myself, and the show’s director, Anthony. Also check us out on Facebook.

BW: How has the reactions been to Deadpool so far, do you think you’ll ever revisit the character again?

TG: We’ve had so much support for this, it makes me kind of dizzy. I can’t thank the fans out there enough. For instance, a girl named Jan from Texas has done a whole series of gifs based on our promos, trailers, and the film, and they’ve been shared all over Tumblr. We made this movie as fans and for fans of Deadpool, and without fan support, we’re nothing. Anyone reading this who has supported the film, you kick ass. Thanks for watching, thanks for liking it, and please keep sharing it with everyone ever.

KB: We have had our minds blown. it’s been ridiculous. We thought it would get maybe 1,000 views. Not 8,000 in 4 days. We’ve had a lot of negative comments in there as well, but I don’t mind. It means people are watching. And the positive comments are outnumbering the negative astronomically.

TG: Yeah, we’ve received our fair share of negative comments too, but with the awesome people out there supporting us, who gives a shit? I totally have to share my favorite comment on the film so far: “ It had the tonality of the first two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies. Or maybe Deadpool just sounded a lot like Michelangelo.” Insert happy dance here.

KB: So I’m happy. We’ve had memes, and have been voted one of the best fan films out there. Lots of cool stuff. And people will contact us and we’ll reply back, right? Two days later our e-mails to them are posted on their tumblrs as if they’re something to see. It’s been crazy like an ex-girlfriend. But it’s a fun ride. And as far as the second question goes, we’ve talked about it. Right now, there are tentative plans to do something with DP in it, but it’ll be in a way people wouldn’t expect. And it’s a little while off.

BW: I have to ask, what is your favorite superhero movie?

KB: Damn! Hard question. Uhm….I….I….Blankman? No. That’s not right. Steel starring Shaq? No. That’s not it either. I’m going to have to give you like ten. I’m sorry. There’s no other option here. I do it for love though. No order though, just here they are. The Dark Knight. The Avengers. The Crow. The Shadow. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Darkman. The Death of the Incredible Hulk (made for TV I know, but that movie changed me). Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. The Phantom (probably not a good movie per se, but Billy Zane’s a bad ass and a young Catherine Zeta Jones is so hot I’d punch someone). Swamp Thing.

and yours? If you want to say Deadpool: A Typical Tuesday, that’s fine with me;)

BW: It’s definitely one of my favorite fan-films so far.

TG: Holy shit, that’s a hard question. I’ve been collecting comics since I was 6, and I fucking love superhero movies. I love the first Hellboy, I love The Crow, I love The Dark Knight, I friggin’ loved Avengers, I love all of the Marvel and DC animated features and shorts, I love them all. Even the “bad ones”. I can’t get enough superhero movie awesomeness. Please don’t make me pick a favorite. I’ll compromise by telling you my lucky 7 favorite comic book heroes. In no particular order, Aquaman, Captain Marvel, Batman, Deadpool (obviously), Abe Sapien, Dick Grayson in every suit he’s ever worn, and Raphael (TMNT). My comic book crush is Barbara Gordon, no question.

Keep kicking ass! And thanks for everything (see what I did there?)!

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Thanks so much for talking with me, I hope you do come back to Deadpool in the future, but A Typical Tuesday is pretty great to tide me over for a while, and good luck with Thanks for Everything! Until next time, this has been Bubbawheat for Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights.