Today 20th Century Fox announced that Deadpool would finally be happening. That’s right, the Ryan Reynolds spinoff vehicle that has been on and off for years is going ahead with director Tim Miller at the helm (fun fact – he did the awesome credits sequence for Girl With the Dragon Tattoo). The script by Rhett Rheese and Paul Wernick (Zombieland) – assuming they’re still using that draft – is apparently in great shape.

Not all of the ink is dry, it’s taken as a given that Reynolds will appear in the film but his deal apparently isn’t completely done yet. Still, this X-Men spinoff has the potential to be one of the more interesting Marvel films in some time, especially if they do it at the $50 Million price point that was once rumored. Maybe the response to that test footage “leak” was what was needed to push the needle along a bit. Deadpool hits theaters on February 12th, 2016. Hit the jump for more.

I’m wondering if this February release date, along with the rumored $50 Million price tag, could mean that we’re getting the first R-rated Marvel movie. That’s at least a possibility that was being floated around earlier this year according to producer Simon Kinberg:

“Yeah, it makes sense to me. Genuinely it’s early phases, early days, but if you’re gonna do a Deadpool movie, I think you’ve gotta do a hard-R, darker movie and he is the perfect character to do it with.”

All of those details will likely come into view soon. But for now, if you’re a Deadpool fan, today is probably a day you thought might never come. Personally, I’m all for the freedom allowed by such a potentially small budget (if that remains the case). It’ll be nice to see a superhero movie with slightly less executive meddling than normal.