Ryan Reynolds has finally admitted to being the person who leaked the Deadpool test footage that went viral in 2014. The actor called himself the “a–hole” behind the leak, which ultimately forced a hesitant studio to greenlight the film.
September 6, 2025: Ryan Reynolds finally cleared a ten-year-old mystery at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) by acknowledging that he was the one who leaked the famous Deadpool test footage in 2014. The actor, who has been a big fan of the character for a long time, admitted to being the “a–hole” behind the leak, which he called a planned act of desperation to get the movie completed.
What Reynolds stated confirms what a lot of fans and others in the business have thought for a long time. The leaked film went viral and made people want a live-action Deadpool movie so much that 20th Century Fox ultimately agreed to make it after years of saying no.
What the industry felt and what occurred next Reynolds has subsequently come clean, but the studio, which Disney has now bought, has not publicly reprimanded him for it. The Deadpool franchise has produced billions of dollars around the world, so the leak is now seen as a creative but risky move, even though it breached studio standards.
Tim Miller, who directed the movie, and Simon Kinberg, who produced it, have both commented about the leak before. Both of them acknowledged they weren’t involved, but they both agreed that it was highly significant to the movie’s making. In earlier interviews, Miller said he was “horrified” when he first learned about the leak because he was concerned Fox would get back at him. On the other side, Reynolds’s confession has made the story humorous and made him famous as a master of both character acting and guerrilla marketing. The risk paid off, not just because it made a huge franchise, but also because it paved the way for other R-rated superhero movies like Logan.