The Deadpool & Wolverine star was asked about the future of his superhero franchise

Ryan Reynolds has opened up about the future of his career and how his family impacts his decisions.

The 48-year-old actor is loved by many — except Martha Stewart — for his roles in a bunch of comedies, including Deadpool. The 2024 sequel, Deadpool & Wolverine, broke records at the box office this year.

Naturally, fans are wondering if the success of the most recent Marvel film will lead to yet another sequel starring Reynolds, but judging by his recent comments about his family, it seems unlikely.

He shares four children with his wife, Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively: James, aged nine, Inez, seven, Betty, four, Olin, one, and he has previously spoken about their parenting style as well as how he felt growing up as one of four siblings.

Speaking with Andrew Garfield for Variety’s Actors on Actors interview series, the dad-of-four said playing the character is all-consuming and he does not want to be an ‘absentee [dad]’.

“I don’t know,” he said in response to a question about the future of the Deadpool franchise. “Honestly, my feeling is that the character works very well in two ways.

“One is scarcity and surprise. So it had been six years since the last one, and part of the reason is that it swallows my whole life.”

He added: “I have four kids, and I don’t ever want to be an absentee [dad].

“I kind of die inside when I see their faces and they do a sports thing or something and I missed it.”

In the past, Reynolds has even been candid on how his upbringing informed his sense of humour and introduced him to the world of acting.

During a 2019 interview with WSJ Style, Reynolds opened up on how being the youngest of four sons was oftentimes difficult and meant that he had to rely on his ‘wits’ to get along with his siblings.

“You get by on your wits, that’s how you do it, you don’t get by on your fists,” the actor recalled.

“I think in any household it’s hard being the fourth kid. That’s the kid that’s sort of watching and learning constantly, as opposed to the trailblazing eldest,” he continued.

Reynolds went on to explain that he never thought he would be an actor as a child, and that he mainly used the craft as a means to cope.

“I always thought I’d end up in law enforcement like my family so I didn’t imagine that [I’d be an actor].

“Acting was a way to get out of the house. It wasn’t really like a passion when I was a kid. It was something I was already doing at home, you know, to survive,” he added.

“I noticed when I was a kid, making people laugh was a great self-defense mechanism. It really helped me kind of navigate my way through my own home with my older brothers and my dad.”