If you haven’t been following the Deadpool controversy, now is probably as good a time as ever to review. So, from the B&U timeline:

- Over a year ago, we heard rumors that Ryan Reynolds may have signed on to be Deadpool, an enigmatic Marvel character who wears a mask because of horrible scarring.

- Last July, we got our first blurry look at Reynolds as a mask-less Deadpool via Comic Con, suggesting the film would involve Deadpool getting scarred.

- Last September we heard that Fox was considering at least one Deadpool spin-off film.

- Promotional images released when Wolverine went into “re-shoots” show a mask-less Deadpool. Rumors swirl that the re-shoots add more Deadpool to the script, while other rumors suggest that Ryan Reynolds scheduling made reshoots part of the overall plan to fit him into the film.

- The first Deadpool toy surfaces, showing a bald, white-skinned man in red pants with single, sword-like claws coming out of his fists.

- A second, clearly-photographed Deadpool toy leaks, showing a mask-less, mouthless scarred mutant that looks nothing like Ryan Reynolds.

-The final Wolverine Trailer shows the white-skinned, bald guy blasting something with optic-lasers like Cyclops and we’re introduced to the idea of mutant hybrid Mutant XI.

- SPOILERish hints suggest a connection between Mutant XI and Deadpool that does not bode well for a Deadpool at all similar to the one in the comics.

- An early reviewer SPOILS the Wolverine plot, confirms Deadpool fears.

With Reynolds next showing up in April’s Adventureland, some online journos are getting access to Wade Wilson/Deadpool and - of course - are asking the big questions…

From Latino Review:

Will we care about your character Deadpool?

Reynolds: You know, I think you will.

Because he’s kind of a good guy, bad guy…

Reynolds: Ya, he walks the line. Ya, I think you will actually care about him. You’ll be curious about him. You’ll be curious beyond the film, you’ll be curious about him. I play Wade Wilson and I play Deadpool, and the character I play as Deadpool, I personally, Fox may differ from me, but I personally don’t consider him as Deadpool, I consider him to be what Deadpool becomes. Or the thing Deadpool came from. It doesn’t carry on past that.

There’s talk, because Deadpool is so popular, that Fox might want to do a spin-off. Would you be interested in that?

Reynolds: Ya, I love the character. I’ve always loved the character. I remember reading one of the Deadpool comic books, and somebody asked Deadpool what he looks like. And he said he looks like a cross between a Shar-Pei and Ryan Reynolds. And I was like, I really, really wanna play this guy at some point. I thought it was pretty cool. It’s a guy that knows he’s in a comic book. How hard is it to shoot that properly? That’s not something they put in Wolverine nor would it belong in that universe.

You’re probably not going to answer this but, do you wear the mask at all in the film? Is the costume even a part…?

Reynolds: I’m not gonna answer that.

Eric from AICN then asked: The reason he wears the mask, is that part of the film?

Reynolds: Ya, ya. Well, it’s an origin story, so again I don’t consider myself playing Deadpool. I’m the thing that will eventually become Deadpool. But ya, he’s scarred up. You’re gonna see the scars. That’s all in there.

So how does this make sense knowing what I know?

I’m guessing we won’t see Mutant XI/Deadpool die, or if he does die, he’ll have powers stripped from him and maybe (if Fox is feeling nice), we’ll see a coda where Reynolds dawns the mask.

I say maybe, because nothing like that was mentioned in the spoiler-full preview we’ve been hearing about, but when Iron Man screened, they didn’t have the Sam Jackson/Nick Fury part in it, so there’s hope until release.