It’s one of the most improbable movie-character comebacks in history. Fox debuted Deadpool (ish) in 2009’s ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine,’ where Ryan Reynolds played the character as a wise-cracking mercenary with a couple of swords and a bad attitude. At the climax of the film, though, creative license (and some truly awful makeup effects) turned Reynolds into a mute martial artists with giant swords coming out of his arms. Because that’s what you think of when you think of Deadpool: A guy who doesn’t talk with huge sword claws.

‘X-Men Origins’ was a flop with audiences and critics (though it did make a fair amount of money), and while talk persisted of a potential ‘Deadpool’ spinoff with Reynolds, the project never went anywhere (the flopitude of Reynolds’ DC superhero movie, ‘Green Lantern’ certainly didn’t help matters). But then test footage for the film leaked online last summer, scoring rave reviews from fans, and generating a new wave of interest in the character. A few months later, ‘Deadpool’ was finally a go. And now Reynolds is officially in as well. Not the outcome I would have predicted at the end of ‘X-Men Origins,’ when (SPOILER ALERT FOR SOMETHING THAT WILL OBVIOUSLY BE RETCONNED OUT OF EXISTENCE) a decapitated Deadpool shushed audiences in maybe the worst post-credits scene of all time.

Deadpool will be directed by Tim Miller, the special-effects expert who helmed the awesome test reel. According to Deadline, shooting is scheduled to begin next March. Chimichangas for all!