Ryan Reynolds has confirmed what fans have joked about for years: he was the one who leaked the early Deadpool test footage that hit the internet in 2014—a move he now says he’s “grateful” for, even though he described it as “the wrong thing.”
He made the admission during an onstage conversation at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where he appeared in the festival’s “In Conversation” series while attending the event for the documentary John Candy: I Like Me, which he produced.
The “Leak” That Changed Deadpool’s Fate
The footage Reynolds referred to wasn’t a random clip from an existing film. It was a piece of CGI test footage created to show what a live-action Deadpool movie could look like—produced in 2012 by director Tim Miller, with Reynolds voicing the character.
According to Reynolds, the studio (then 20th Century Fox) had been reluctant to move forward. He has described Deadpool as a “fringe character” at the time, and said the studio was wary of backing an R-rated superhero movie.
Then came the pivotal moment: the footage appeared online in 2014 and ignited huge fan enthusiasm. Reynolds told the TIFF audience that the online reaction effectively forced the studio’s hand—saying the film received a green light within about 24 hours of the leak.
Why Reynolds Says He’s “Grateful” He Did It
Reynolds framed the leak as a calculated instinct—something he believed would prove there was an audience for the character and the tone. At TIFF, he bluntly acknowledged the ethical line it crossed, saying: “Yes, I cheated a little… I’m grateful that I did the wrong thing in that moment.”
He also joked about the risk: realizing the seriousness of what he’d done and that it could be “punishable by law.”
The Context: He Didn’t Always Admit It
For years, Reynolds played coy. He joked in interviews and online posts about hunting down the “culprit,” keeping the mystery alive as part of the movie’s irreverent mythology.
Even as recently as 2024, he still avoided taking full responsibility in a lie-detector-style segment, saying he “might have provided an assist” and comparing himself to Scottie Pippen—present, helpful, but not claiming the headline move.
TIFF 2025 is where he finally stopped dancing around it.
The Results: A Franchise That Prints Money
Whatever you think of the ethics, the outcome is hard to argue with commercially:
-
Deadpool (2016) grossed $782.8M worldwide, per Box Office Mojo.
-
Deadpool 2 (2018) grossed $734.5M worldwide (original release).
-
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) grossed $1.338B worldwide.
Box Office Mojo’s all-time list for R-rated worldwide grosses also shows Deadpool & Wolverine at #1, with Deadpool and Deadpool 2 both in the top tier.
The Real Story Behind the Headline
Reynolds’ confession isn’t just a fun Hollywood anecdote. It’s a rare case where a modern blockbuster’s origin story includes a moment that looks like rule-breaking… but functions like a brutal, effective proof-of-demand experiment.
And to be clear: Reynolds isn’t claiming “leaks are good.” He’s saying that in this situation—after years of stalled momentum and studio hesitation—the leak became the turning point that made Deadpool real.
