Deadpool's Original Co-Star Was Meant To Be The X-Men's Breakout Character

All "Deadpool" movies thus far have teamed Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) up with another Marvel superhero. In the first film, that was the steel-skinned Russian X-Man Piotr Rasputin/Colossus (Stefan Kapičić). "Deadpool" writer Rhett Rheese said the filmmakers settled on Colossus because he was effective as a foil for Deadpool; "very self-serious and goody-two-shoes" unlike the violent and flippant Merc with a Mouth. During the movie, Colossus tries to recruit Deadpool onto the X-Men and gives him an inspirational speech on why he shouldn't execute the author of his pain, Ajax (Ed Skrein) — Wade ignores the speech and Piotr vomits once Ajax's brains exit his skull.

"Deadpool 2" brought back Colossus, but he was now competing as Wade's partner with time-traveling cyborg mutant Cable (Josh Brolin). The upcoming third film, "Deadpool and Wolverine," is bringing in the face of the "X-Men" movie franchise — Logan as played by Hugh Jackman, who helped get the movie off the ground. Kapičić/Colossus is returning in "Deadpool and Wolverine," but I bet with Logan in the picture, his role will be minor. This isn't the first time Wolverine has eclipsed Colossus. It goes back to their earliest days in Marvel Comics.

Chris Claremont (who wrote "X-Men" from 1975 to 1991) explained it during a 2018 interview with SYFY. Speaking about how he guided the characters over his legendary run, Claremont said his predecessor, the late Len Wein, have conceived Colossus as the "core character" of the X-Men's new generation. "He's got the primary colors in his costume, and when he turns into Colossus, he's got this huge, magnificent, gleaming [physique]," Claremont said, describing how Colossus was the most traditional superhero of the "Second Genesis" team.

The initial run on "X-Men" was, frankly, a flop. The stories and characters (the initial team being Cyclops, Beast, Angel, Iceman, and Marvel Girl) largely lacked the spark of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's best work at Marvel Comics. "X-Men" was even canceled in 1970 and only revived five years later with "Giant-Size X-Men" #1 (by Wein and artist Dave Cockrum).

The new "X-Men" retained the premise but replaced half the original team (Professor X, Cyclops, and Jean Grey stayed) to spice the book up. "Giant Size X-Men" #1 opens with Professor X recruiting his new X-Men one-by-one to save the original team after they disappear on a mission. Note Cockrum and artist Gil Kane's cover of the issue above; Colossus is in the center and pointing forward, leading the literal charge and the symbolic one of a new cast entering the story.

Piotr is introduced working on a Soviet farming collective; he debuts his powers to save his little sister Anya from being hit by a tractor. Professor X convinces him his powers can benefit the world, not just his state, and Colossus leaves with him. So, a burly square-jawed farm boy with a gentle soul? Yeah, Colossus is basically Superman.

"Giant Size X-Men" #1 remade the X-Men into an international team (Nightcrawler was German, Storm Kenyan, Wolverine Canadian, etc.). As Claremont noted to SYFY, Colossus' Soviet background was the most "radical" choice of all. The Cold War was ongoing, but this American superhero comic was teaching kids that Russians are still part of the human race with the same capacity for (super) goodness as anyone else. One can easily compare this to the cast diversity in the original "Star Trek" series, which also had a Russian character (Pavel Chekov, played by Walter Koenig) to demonstrate mankind was traveling the stars as one.

Despite spearheading the relaunch with Cockrum, Wein didn't stay on "X-Men" for long. According to Claremont, Wein was too busy to write the book full-time; he had just spent a year as Marvel's editor-in-chief and was currently writing "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "The Incredible Hulk." Plus, at the time, "X-Men" wasn't considered a prestigious assignment:

"This was 1975 and nobody had an inkling – or even a ghost of an inkling – of what was in store. If any of us knew then what the X-Men would do, Len wouldn't let it out of his door."

As the "X-Men" writer, Claremont didn't push Colossus as the main character. As he told SYFY, his approach was: "There are a lot of big powerful male guys, let's play with the other characters, let's see who actually surfaces." It ended up being Wolverine and Storm who took the lead. Logan was just too cool for readers to ignore, while Claremont (who likes strong women) thrived while writing the weather witch. He even made Storm into the X-Men's leader for a time. 

Look at Cockrum's early "X-Men" covers and you can even track the cast's evolution. Colossus is usually front-and-center on early ones, while Wolverine is sometimes excluded altogether. On the "X-Men" #100 cover, Colossus is at the front of the next-gen team line-up (squaring off with Cyclops) while Wolverine is at the very back. "X-Men" #102 has a cover of Colossus locked in combat with Juggernaut while Storm uncharacteristically cowers like a damsel-in-distress.

The first sign of change comes on the cover of "X-Men" #112, "Magneto Triumphant!" The cover shows Magneto pummeling the X-Men. Wolverine (who is having his claws bent out of shape) is in the foreground, while a hovering Colossus is in the background. In the "Days of Future Past" storyline ("X-Men" #141-142), Wolverine gets front and center on both covers. Now, Claremont and his artists knew who readers were buying the book to see.

Now, Colossus isn't a minor character. He continued to play an important role throughout Claremont's "X-Men" run and is still a prominent character today. "X-Men" comics have so many characters but Colossus never falls out of the spotlight for long.

Still, he's definitely on a lower-rung than the essential X-Men: Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, and Storm. Here's a telling bit of trivia: Colossus has never been on the main cast in any of the "X-Men" cartoons, aside from the failed 1989 pilot "Pryde of the X-Men."

In the 1992 "X-Men" cartoon, Colossus starred in only two episodes and never joined the team. "X-Men: Evolution" pulled from the comic "Fatal Attractions" (where Colossus joins Magneto's Acolytes) and used Piotr as a henchman, not a hero. "Wolverine and the X-Men" opens with the X-Men dissolving after Professor X goes missing; Logan later decides to rebuild the team, but Colossus turns down the invite. Since that series never got a second season, plans to bring Piotr back into the X-fold fell by the wayside.

Before the "Deadpool" movies, Colossus had never been a silver screen star either. Daniel Cudmore played him in "X2," "The Last Stand," and "Days of Future Past" but he had few lines and little personality.

Knowing Colossus was designed to be an archetypal superhero helps explain why he didn't quite rise to the top. As Claremont wrote his castmates; Wolverine and Storm were badasses who little boys and girls (respectively) wanted to be. Nightcrawler, Magneto, and the Phoenix had tortured souls. Kitty Pryde offered a child's view into the X-Men for young readers. Compared to those more offbeat personalities, Colossus does work best as a straight man foil.

"Deadpool & Wolverine" premieres in theaters on July 26, 2024.