Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds (birthname: Ryan Rodney Reynolds) has emerged as one of the biggest and most reliable box office stars, in an era when the force of star power has been greatly diminished. Virtually the only actor who has played leads in both Marvel Comics Universe and DC Comics movie franchises, Reynolds achieved global star status in 2016 as the title character (and his human counterpart, Wade Wilson) in the Deadpool series, the first superhero franchise released with an R rating.

Both the first and the follow-up, Deadpool 2 (2018), broke earnings records for an R-rated feature, for a combined worldwide cume of $1.5 billion. Unlike several other Marvel and DC stars unable to transfer their box office impact to non-superhero projects, Reynolds scored great success with Free Guy (2021), which earned over $330 million worldwide, followed by The Adam Project, one of Netflix’s hit feature releases in 2022.

This indicates that Reynolds can sustain durable star status in an extremely volatile and unpredictable environment for lead actors. Part of Reynolds’s strategy is—despite Deadpool’s distinctly adult profile—to work alongside child actors in family-friendly vehicles. These include his vocal appearances in the animated features The Croods (2013), The Croods 2: A New Age (2020), Turbo (2013), and Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019), and continue with The Adam Project, Spirited (2022, a remake of A Christmas Carol in which Reynolds plays Ebeneezer Scrooge), and the kid-friendly action film Everyday Parenting Tips (planned for 2023).

Reynolds’s career began with little promise or indication of his future stardom. His lead role in the Canadian teen soap opera Hillside (1991-1993) led to only minor roles, though he did gain some fame in National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (2002), which has cult status in Europe. His first significant dramatic role was as a man buried alive in Buried (2010), but an early sign of his future superhero identity emerged in both Blade: Trinity (2004) and Green Lantern (2011). 

Ryan Reynolds first appeared as Wade Wilson’s character (whose alter-ego was named Weapon XI), not in Deadpool itself, but in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), his first project in the superhero comic business dominated by MCU and DC Comics. His interest in Deadpool predated even this, as he discussed developing the character into a feature as early as 2005 with screenwriter David S. Goyer.

But his first foray into a lead superhero role, in The Green Lantern (2011), proved a commercial failure. 2016 was his breakthrough year, with Deadpool, and he wasted no time diversifying his business profile to an unusual degree for a movie star. In 2018, he launched his production company, Maximum Effort, plus ownership holding in Aviation American Gin, which was sold in 2020 to British alcohol and beverage firm Diageo. He also bought a 25% ownership stake in mobile company Mint Mobile in 2019, followed by the purchase (with actor Rob McElhenney) of Welsh football club Wrexham AFC.     

Reynolds re-teamed with his Deadpool director, Shawn Levy, for the hit Netflix release, The Adam Project (2022) and then co-starred with writer-director John Krasinski in Krasinki’s comic fantasy, IF (2024) Reynolds added screenwriting to his skill set as co-writer as well as star of the third entry in the Deadpool franchise Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), co-starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Levy.

Ryan Reynolds was star-producer of the Peter Atencio-directed live-action/animated movie, Animal Friends (2025), co-starring Jason Momoa, Vince Vaughn, Aubrey Plaza, Lil Rel Howery, Joaquim de Almeida, and Maya Rudolph, produced by Columbia Pictures/Legendary Pictures/Maximum Effort and released by Sony Pictures. Reynolds once again took the lead and also served as a producer on the action-adventure, Mayday (date to be announced), with Kenneth Branagh and Maria Bakalova, produced by Apple Original Films/Skydance/Maximum Effort and released by Apple TV+.

Reynolds co-starred with Jason Bateman and also was a producer on the James Bobin-directed mystery based on the Hasbro board game, Clue (date to be announced), for 20^th Century Studios, and then Reynolds played the lead voice role and was a producer on animators Don Bluth’s and Gary Goldman’s feature, Dragon’s Lair: The Movie (date to be announced).

Ryan Reynolds was the star producer of producers, writers, and directors of Aaron and Adam Nee’s crime comedy, Calamity Hustle (date to be announced), co-starring Channing Tatum (also producing). At the same time, Reynolds starred, produced, and co-wrote (with Jesse Andrews) the musical comedy directed by Shawn Levy, Boy Band (date to be announced). Reynolds was again a star producer on the special effects-driven comedy for producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Everyday Parenting Tips (date to be announced), directed by Paul King and written by Simon Rich adapting his own New Yorker short story.