Ryan Reynolds confesses to being behind original Deadpool footage leak

To promote Deadpool & Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman tested each other with a lie detector, leading Reynolds to confess to a major past leak.

Years before Deadpool & Wolverine was even a possibility, the original Deadpool movie was trying to get made. The Merc With a Mouth was struggling to get an decent big screen adaptation (following his initial X-Men: Origins appearance), though there was a new movie in the works.

In 2014, test footage from the R-rated superhero movie was leaked online. It ended up winning the hearts of Marvel fans, who in turn made it known that they wanted more. As such, Deadpool was greenlit, and a new franchise was born.

Deadpool & Wolverine is currently spreading Deadpool’s foul-mouthed influence into the MCU, but it might not have happened had that footage not leaked. For years, many suspected Reynolds himself as being behind the distribution. Now, Hugh Jackman has confronted him head-on.

In a Vanity Fair lie detector interview, the two Marvel stars took turns asking each other questions while hooked up to a polygraph machine.

Jackman asked, “The test footage for the original Deadpool leaked on the internet. Were you behind the leak?”

“That’s a great question,” Reynolds said. “This is a great question. Pass.”

When Jackman reminded Reynolds that he was hooked up to a lie detector, Reynolds replied, “I just want to remind you that this does not follow the letter of the f***ing law. And if I wanted to break out of this room and destroy everything in my path, I will. I would say that I, I… what is the question again?”

When he tried to avoid the question again, the polygraph technician told him to answer.

“Well, for f**k’s sakes,” Reynolds said. “I mean, I might have provided an assist. I was Scottie Pippen!” He added, “I was just there doing my job, and someone else gets all the credit.”

So, it sounds as though Reynolds did have a hand in getting that footage out into the world. But based on the success of the franchise – with the first two movies landing among the highest-grossing R-rated movies of all time – it looks like he’s more to thank than to blame.

For more, check out our Deadpool & Wolverine review. You can also take a look at the ending explained, and see if there’s a post-credits scene.