There’s just over a month to go before 20th Century Fox kicks off the 2016 superhero season with the release of , and during an interview with Empire Magazine, Ryan Reynolds has been speaking about his casting as the Merc with a Mouth, as well as touching upon how the upcoming movie fits in with the wider X-Men universe.

“Seeing as you’re essentially playing this guy anyway, maybe you should play him for real,” said Reynolds, recalling a comment from an executive after seeing him play Hannibal King in Blade: Trinity. “I pored through the comics and realized that this character occupies a space in the comic book universe that nobody else does. I still feel that way. There are moments [in the movie] where we really just venture into the heart of darkness and stay there for a few beats, but then it also has this very humorous undertone. We can go places and do things with this that you couldn’t do with any other superhero property.”

SEE ALSO: Deadpool: The Hero We Need, the Merc We Deserve

As for how Deadpool fits with Fox’s other X-Men features, Reynolds stated that: “This film certainly works within the context of the X-Men universe but it doesn’t necessarily include the sensibilities of an X-Men movie. It’s like taking an X-Men character, pumping him full of LSD and then releasing him back into that fold.”

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.

SEE ALSO: Follow all of our Deadpool coverage here

Deadpool is set for release on February 10th 2016 in the UK and February 12th 2016 in the States and sees Ryan Reynolds reprising the role of the Merc with a Mouth alongside T.J. Miller (Transformers: Age of Extinction) as Weasel, Morena Baccarin (Gotham) as Copycat, Gina Carano (Fast & Furious 6) as Angel Dust, Ed Skrein (Game of Thrones) as Ajax, Stefan Kapicic (24) as Colossus, Leslie Uggams (Roots) as Blind Al and newcomer Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead.