Ryan Reynolds: 'X-Men: Origins' was 'frustrating experience'

The last time audiences saw Ryan Reynolds playing Deadpool on the big screen, they got a very different version of the character than they were used to from his comic book roots.

Instead of a wisecracking, fourth-wall-breaking mercenary antihero, the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine featured a Deadpool who shot lasers from his eyes and had his mouth sewn shut.

Reynolds finally got his chance to make amends with a standalone Deadpool movie, and in advance of its Friday opening, he spoke to People and EW editorial director Jess Cagle about how he involved with Origins in the first place.

“It was a very frustrating experience,” Reynolds recalled. “I was already attached to the Deadpool movie. We hadn’t at that point written a script yet. [Origins] came along and it was sort of like, ‘Play Deadpool in this movie or we’ll get someone else to.’ And I just said, ‘I’ll do it, but it’s the wrong version. Deadpool isn’t correct in it.'”

All this was going on during the Hollywood writers strike of 2007-2008, Reynolds said, “So we were in the middle of production, there were no writers, no anything. Every line I have in the movie I just wrote myself because in the script we had, it said, ‘Wade Wilson shows up, talks really fast.’ I was like, ‘What?! What am I supposed to do with that?'”

Watch the video above for more of Reynolds’ thoughts on Origins. His full interview debuts Friday at 2 p.m. ET on EW Radio on SiriusXM and will air throughout the weekend. Deadpool hits theaters on Friday.