OK, so we’ve pretty much come to the consensus that X-Men Origins: Wolverine wasn’t that great. But it still had a pretty stellar opening weekend, and deals were struck to expand the franchise before the studio realized that no one actually liked the movie. I could very easily be writing right now about what a sad state of affairs it is when a studio, blinded by fast money, decides to keep milking a franchise that the fans think they’ve already milked completely dry, but I’m choosing to be optimistic. Not about the proposed Wolverine sequel (that’s likely to be worse than this one was). But I’m willing to take a wait-and-see approach with the recently announced Deadpool spin-off. Here are three reasons why:

1. Deadpool was the best part of Wolverine.
For me, the only true “wow” moment of Wolverine arrived when Ryan Reynolds stepped out of an elevator and began slicing people up with samurai swords using moves so quick it looked like he had helicopter propellers for arms. And this was immediately after he’d spent the prior scene entertaining me with his snarky wisecracks. This was the only character I knew I wanted to see more of -- and his quick disappearance was the first thing that disappointed me about the movie. When he did show up again towards the end, I was even more disappointed that his mouth had been sewn shut! I also found myself more intrigued by how he’d gotten to that point than I’d been by anything that had happened to Wolverine. How could there not be a spin-off?

2. Ryan Reynolds wants to make this movie the right way.
Before Wolverine even hit theaters, Ryan Reynolds was pretty vocal in expressing his desire to make a Deadpool movie. This is clearly a passion project for him, and he’s excited to dive deeper into the Deadpool backstory. Passion projects often have mixed results, but the energy and enthusiasm Reynolds showed in his brief Wolverine cameo gives me hope that he’ll be able to let us all in on the fun he’s clearly having playing this character.

3. Fresh blood is almost always a good thing.
Wolverine was the fourth film in the X-Men franchise, and everyone seems ready to agree that the character has run its course. Deadpool gives 20th Century Fox the chance to completely reboot the franchise and infuse it with fresh blood. They’ve got a competent leading man in Ryan Reynolds, and a character that hasn’t been shoved down our throats multiple times already. Here’s hoping that will be enough to make things right in the X universe once more.

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