The Merc with a Mouth may have regenerative healing, but the same can’t be said for Ryan Reynolds, making it a sign of commitment that the actor chose to promote Once Upon a Deadpool in the all-important China market over making his surgery appointment.
Variety reports that Reynolds had injured his left arm while shooting Wade Wilson’s latest screen outing, but while the star was scheduled to have surgery in New York last Sunday, he instead chose to take a trip to the Middle Kingdom, telling his fans:
“This was more important. I was not going to miss coming to China.”
Say what you will about Reynolds’ decision, but the China release of Once Upon a Deadpool serves as a pretty big moment for the series, and we can hardly blame the guy for wanting to lend his support. As the first Deadpool movie to make it past the country’s censors, the PG-13 Deadpool 2 re-release serves as the first real opportunity for Wade to establish himself as a big screen star in the region, though as the Variety report goes on to say, most Chinese fans will have already seen the Merc’s two R-rated adventures online.
Another obstacle for the success of Once Upon a Deadpool in China is potential cultural barriers, with some of the film’s humor reportedly failing to land with a lot of filmgoers in the region. Nonetheless, Reynolds evidently thought that the trip was worth skipping surgery for, claiming during his PR tour, “It’s been a dream of mine for years to bring Deadpool to China and Chinese audiences, so for me this is, uh, heaven on earth,”
Regardless of how Once Upon a Deadpool fares in the area, fans around the world are already clamoring for more from the Merc, and as Reynolds said during his trip, the team is already at work on Deadpool 3.