Rise to Fame
Green Lantern bombed so badly it became a running joke Reynolds himself can't stop making. He spent the next five years fighting to make Deadpool the way he wanted it, with an R-rating and a budget that made the studio nervous, and it opened in 2016 to $782 million worldwide. He'd been pitching the character since picking up the comics on the set of Blade: Trinity in 2004. By the time it happened, it felt less like a comeback and more like revenge.
In the Spotlight
He sold Aviation Gin to Diageo for $610 million in 2020, sold Mint Mobile to T-Mobile for $1.35 billion in 2023, and co-owns Wrexham AFC, which he and Rob Mac bought for $2.5 million and have turned into a club now playing in England's Championship. Deadpool & Wolverine crossed $1.3 billion in 2024, the highest-grossing R-rated film ever. The acting career and the business portfolio are now roughly the same size, which is a strange thing to say about a film star, but here we are.
Side Notes
He's had severe anxiety his whole life and has said he conducted press interviews in character as Deadpool to manage it, treating the character as a kind of psychological suit of armor. His father died of Parkinson's disease in 2015, and he's said making Deadpool was part of how he processed the grief. Taylor Swift is the godmother to three of his four kids, which is either the most 2020s celebrity arrangement or a perfectly logical outcome of being married to Blake Lively.