(Photo by Marvel / courtesy Everett Collection)

All Ryan Reynolds Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

Early in his career, Ryan Reynolds had moderate impact as the face of National Lampoon’s last watchable movie, Van Wilder. And he had enough comedy wattage, even in 2004, to turn a cameo as a skeptical nurse in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle into a durable internet meme. But for a guy who made a gross-out comedy called Waiting, he’d have to do exactly that until he became a household name in 2009. Sure, prior to that, he would also make Smokin’ Aces and Blade: Trinity, but 2009 saw Reynolds in Greg Mottola’s post-Superbad movie Adventureland, becoming the Merc With A No Mouth in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and co-starring in the Sandra Bullock rom-com The Proposal. The Proposal wasn’t Fresh, but it made a lot of money, and though everyone hates X-Men Origins, no one blames Reynolds for it.

And that’s part of his charm: Even if the movie he’s in is terrible, you never end up liking him less. It’s how his rep could survive disasters like Green Lantern and R.I.P.D., while fringe Certified Fresh movies like Buried, The Voices, and Mississippi Grind reminded audiences that this guy had the chops to be one of the biggest stars in the world, if he could just find the right vehicle.

We all know what that would be: Deadpool, the profane, R-rated comic book movie that made the fourth wall come crashing down on topics rife for spoofing, like the ridiculous bombast of superhero movies and Reynolds’ own career in Hollywood. Since rectifying his past comic book movie transgressions, highlights in Reynolds filmography include The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Life, and, of course, Once Upon a Deadpool.

Recently, he’s got Free Guy, Netflix’s Red Notice & The Adam Project, and The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. And now hee’s convinced Hugh Jackman to come back into the Marvel fold for Deadpool & Wolverine!