While we’re no stranger to Ryan Reynolds in superhero movies now thanks to his portrayal of Deadpool, the actor wasn’t always tasked with playing great heroes. As many fans will remember, Reynolds got his start as Deadpool in the critically panned “X-Men Origins: Wolverine," although that take on the Merc with a Mouth was nearly unrecognizable. After that, he went on to play Hal Jordan, aka the Green Lantern, in a film that was also considered a resounding flop.

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While his past failures are clearly behind him now, Reynolds recently admitted that his job as the Green Lantern could have been avoided entirely, had it not been for Fox. Speaking to GQ, Reynolds explained that he literally begged the studio to green-light a Deadpool movie before he took the job for “Green Lantern."

"I wrote a letter to my executive at Fox saying, 'I’m gonna take this movie Green Lantern if you guys aren’t gonna make Deadpool. I’m at the altar, about to say ‘I do’ to somebody else, but tell me you want to spend the rest of your life with me, because I want to spend the rest of my life with you…They said, 'Unfortunately, we can’t green-light that movie, and I don’t think it’s ever going to get green-lit.' So I was like, Okay, I’m gonna go move on with my life, then, I guess."

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Obviously, we know what happened afterwards: Reynolds agreed to star in the movie, and it bombed at the box office. Then, footage of “Deadpool” leaked online, Fox finally took notice of it, and Reynolds redeemed himself in the eyes of the comic book fans. While Reynolds still attests that the opportunity for “Green Lantern” was one he couldn’t pass up, it’s good to know that there is a happy ending that eventually came. Now, he can focus on much (ahem) greener pastures, and get to work on the highly anticipated “Deadpool” sequel.