Inside T.J. Miller & Ryan Reynolds' Brutal Feud

After verbally sparring with the Merc with a Mouth in "Deadpool" and "Deadpool 2," comedian T.J. Miller was left with a sour taste in his own dirty mouth. Fans of the delightfully profane franchise that Ryan Reynolds has so lovingly nurtured have really only heard one side of this catty comic book beef, relying on Miller's word when it comes to Reynolds' purported transgressions against him. But Miller's absence from "Deadpool 3" and "Deadpool & Wolverine" speaks volumes.

Miller has a long history of shady behavior, but he tried to cast Reynolds as the villain during a 2022 appearance on "The Adam Carolla Show." Miller said he became convinced that Reynolds despised him after an incident that took place while they were riffing during scenes. In the first two movies, Miller plays Weasel, Deadpool's bartender bud who can hold his own against the superhero when it comes to delivering darkly comedic verbal barbs. According to Miller, Reynolds started personally attacking him while in character as Deadpool. "He was horrifically mean to me ... He was like, 'You know what's great about you, Weasel? You're not the star, but you do just enough exposition that it's funny, and then we can leave and get back to the real movie,'" Miller recalled.

Miller claimed that others on the set, including his wife, found the interaction uncomfortable and strange. He also had a few ideas about why Reynolds supposedly wanted to humiliate him.

While gossipmongering on "The Adam Carolla Show," T.J. Miller accused Ryan Reynolds of getting a big head after the success of the first "Deadpool" movie and suggested that the witty, affable personality Reynolds presents to the public isn't genuine. Miller also theorized that his own comedic chops might have sparked envy in Reynolds' heart. "I think he's kind of an insecure dude," said the former "Silicon Valley" star. When Adam Carolla said that some of the movie's most hilarious moments were those that highlighted Deadpool and Weasel's comedic camaraderie, Miller replied, "I think that maybe there's some part of him that frustrated him." He further agreed that positive responses to his performance possibly bothered Reynolds.

Miller said he had no interest in working with Reynolds again and took one more dig at his former co-star by insinuating that director Michael Bay doesn't think very highly of Reynolds either. But Miller was singing a slightly different tune on SiriusXM's "Jim Norton & Sam Roberts" show. He said Reynolds had reached out to him in an apologetic email and that the two of them had buried the hatchet. "[He] kind of said this is — and it was — it was a misunderstanding," said Miller, later adding, "He was really cool about it." But by this time, there already seemed to be zero hope of Miller getting cast in another "Deadpool" movie.

In December 2017, a woman told the Daily Beast that Miller had sexually assaulted her in college by striking her in the face and strangling her during intercourse. Miller denied the claims.

Filming was already completed on "Deadpool 2" by the time Miller was hit with the potentially career-ending allegations, and he was not cut out of the movie. In a 2018 interview with The New York Times, Reynolds refused to share his thoughts about Miller, who had also been arrested for calling in a false bomb threat by that point. Reynolds did, however, say that Weasel would not be appearing alongside Deadpool in the planned "X-Force" movie, which was later scrapped.

Miller was also missing from "Deadpool 3." In a 2023 appearance on the "All Good Things Podcast with Jason Nash," he complained about "Access Hollywood" host Mario Lopez cutting an interview with him short because he refused to talk about the movie he wasn't in, and it seemed Miller was still holding a bit of a grudge against Reynolds ahead of the premiere of "Deadpool & Wolverine." When Miller appeared on the "Help! with Natalie Cuomo" podcast in April 2024, he again claimed that Reynolds started acting differently after "Deadpool" became such a big hit. He also erroneously stated that it was Reynolds' first success, even though the actor had previously played Sandra Bullock's love interest in "The Proposal" and the title role in "Van Wilder."