EXCLUSIVE: Fox is closing a deal with Ryan Reynolds for a feature on Deadpool, the character he originated in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The film is being directed by Tim Miller, who has done strong visual effects work through his VFX house Blur Films. Miller has been developing the film for several years, from a script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, with Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg producing. Reynolds and other cast have posted photos of Deadpool on Twitter, so clearly this is going. Production begins in March.

When Reynolds made that first appearance as Deadpool, also known as Wade Wilson, he was a smart-mouthed mercenary with terminal cancer who undergoes military experiments in an attempt to replicate Wolverine’s mutant healing factor. He comes away with the ability to heal quickly — but for the price of being indestructible, he is rendered severely scarred. His acerbic attitude remains, though, earning him the nickname “The Merc with a Mouth.” Curiously, they quieted him, but that isn’t taking advantage of Reynolds’ quick wit. There are opportunities for a wise-cracking indestructible weapon who could take out a brigade of terrorists merely by blowing himself up in their midst.

For Fox, this primes the X-Men pump. The studio recently set Bryan Singer to return as director of X-Men: Apocalypse, and that is the next film, with A Most Violent Year star Oscar Isaac playing that the character. The Deadpool film tentatively was scheduled to be released in February 2016. X-Men Apocalypse will be released May 27, 2016.

WME-repped Reynolds next stars opposite Anna Kendrick and Gemma Arterton in The Voices, and he starred with Helen Mirren and Katie Holmes in Woman In Gold. He also stars in the Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck-directed Mississippi Grind. David Weber is his attorney.