Deadpool Has A Hilarious Mother's Day Surprise

Ryan Reynolds, whose wife Blake Lively is celebrating her first Mother's Day as a mother, has posted an excellent Mother's Day surprise for the rest of us (we'll assume that he's bought something great for Lively; he does have the whole of Preserve to pick from, after all). The actor, who will soon be portraying Deadpool in the upcoming Marvel adaptation Deadpool, posted a special Mother's Day message from the antihero.

The image features (presumably) Reynolds in the Deadpool costume, helping a woman give birth and giving a thumbs up while a nurse looks at him skeptically. He is apparently a man of many talents. For those unfamiliar with the backstory of Deadpool, he's a rare breed of Marvel hero, a superhero with a dark side, a sense of humor, and a distinctly meta sensibility. The upcoming movie, scheduled for release in February of 2016, tells the story of Wade Wilson, a mercenary who is experimented upon. As a result, he becomes Deadpool, a superhero with healing powers, but with an unusually dark outlook. In the film, Deadpool goes looking for those who experimented upon him, dealing with his own demons as well. It's these contradictions that gave him the nickname "The Merc with a Mouth."

The film is also set to star TJ Miller, who you might know from Silicon Valley, as well as Morena Baccarin of Firefly fame. While Miller would not usually be cast in a superhero flick, Deadpool seems like a different animal. Not only is its source material funny and more self referential than other Marvel comics, but all signs point to this film retaining, even heightening, that sensibility.

This image just solidifies that hope. All the Deadpool promotional materials have so far been pretty hilarious. The image is both dark and funny, just how fans hope the film will turn out. I am pretty excited about it; superhero movies are supposed to be fun, and they shouldn't take themselves too seriously. Reynolds certainly doesn't seem to be.