A few weeks before Deadpool opened in theaters publicly, it screened as a surprise for fans attending special preview events in Los Angeles and New York. Some of the cast and crew took part in a Q&A at the LA event and in NY, Reynolds made a solo appearance to answer questions from the audience.

One question in particular asked about characters he wanted to include in Deadpool but that didn't make the cut, and Reynolds immediately responded with "Taskmaster," explaining that he's someone everyone originally wanted to feature. The studio actually lost the film rights to Taskmaster last year when they reverted back to Marvel Entertainment so it wasn't to be.

That name though came up again this week in a podcast interview with Empire where Reynolds talked about other characters and X-Men that he, director Tim Miller, and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, wanted to include.

"Taskmaster was in the script, originally. Too expensive... We had versions where we wanted Hugh Jackman in there, we wanted all kinds of little cameos from different people, but it just becomes a big mess you know, for the studio."

Taskmaster (real name: Tony Masters) is character who can copy the movements and fighting styles of others and while originally portrayed as a villain, has often helped train heroes as well. He's fought against and with Deadpool frequently over the years and we listed him as one of the best Deadpool team-ups from the comics. His outlandish costume embraces elements an weapons similar to various characters he's learned to mimic, from Captain America's shield and Black Knight's sword, to Hawkeye's bow and The Punisher's firearms, etc.

Deadpool Vol 2 Issue 9 - Taskmaster Marvel Comics
Deadpool Vol 2 Issue 9

As for why Colossus was chosen for inclusion in the movie, Reynolds says a big reason was that he simply hasn't been done "justice" in the films yet. We can attest to that over the simple fact that the previous version, while not quite the fault of actor Daniel Cudmore, was not honoring the core characteristics of Colossus from the books - that of a massive yet somewhat passive Russian mammoth of a metal man.

Flashback Exclusive from the Set: Colossus will finally be Russian in Deadpool movie

That authenticity to the comics applies to the other details of Deadpool as well, especially when it comes to his iconic red costume. That's why Colossus was adapted the way he was for this film, and why Negasonic Teenage Warhead sports the classic yellow New Mutants X-Men costume. It really makes you wonder then that if Hugh Jackman were able to make a cameo appearance in this film if he'd finally sport a version of his own yellow costume from the comics, something he said to us he really wants to do.

With Wolverine 3 beginning production in April - and news that it's taking a cue from Deadpool in exploring an R rating - perhaps Hugh's finally time playing the character will see him suit up at least once. Many fans expect it. And c'mon, who wouldn't want to see the star try this on...

Next Page: Wolverine's Costume and What's Next For Future Deadpool Movies

The classic costume in The Wolverine

And on the topic of what's next for these characters, Ryan Reynolds wants to to see X-Force follow Deadpool 2 which matches the hopes and desires of the writers and director Tim Miller while they were making the movie.

"I think you know, the natural progression is Cable, X-Force hopefully. I'd really like see X-Force to go and be rated R as well and have the flexibility to do that stuff. If Deadpool does what they want it to do, then it affords you that ability to do that."

And that it did. This interview was posted yesterday but conducted while Reynolds was promoting the film in London pre-release. Since then of course, Deadpool broke all sorts of records no one thought possible and is represents not only the biggest opening for an R-rated movie ever, but the biggest February opening ever and the largest opening of any X-Men movie. And it did all that without 3D and without being a sequel.

Franchise producer Simon Kinberg also mentioned that X-Force could be rated R and the Deadpool sequel, which we hope is titled Cable & Deadpool, will undoubtedly be R-rated as well. This doesn't man all X-Men movies will or should be R-rated, just that Fox can have a line of movies with that sort of flexibility to push the limits of explicit content when it makes sense for the characters and stories. The mainline X-Men films will undoubtedly always remain PG-13, but as we've discussed numerous times previously, we can see the core series continue as planned with X-Force style films alternating years and running concurrently as a smart way to differentiate from the comic book movie universes coming out of rival studios.

Share your thoughts and hopes in the comments below!

Next: It’s Time to Talk About Cable and Deadpool 2

Deadpool is now in theaters; X-Men: Apocalypse opens on May 27, 2016; Gambit sometime in 2017; Wolverine 3 on March 3, 2017; and an unannounced X-Men film on July 13, 2018. The New Mutants and Deadpool 2 are also in development.

Based upon Marvel Comics’ most unconventional anti-hero, DEADPOOL tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life.

The film is directed by Tim Miller, from a script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Ryan Reynolds stars, along with Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Yorick Van Wageningen, Gina Carano and Brianna Hildebrand. Producers include Simon Kinberg, Reynolds and Lauren Shuler Donner.

Source: Empire