Deadpool finally gets release date thanks to 'the power of the internet'

Ryan Reynolds expected to return to superhero role

Deadpool finds time to draw a henchman a sketch before killing him in the test footage (Blur Studios)

Marvel's X-Men spinoff Deadpool is finally going to make it to cinemas, with Twentieth Century Fox giving it a release date and putting the wheels in motion after the internet went crazy for leaked test footage of the character.

The studio announced on Thursday that the superhero movie will open on 12 February, 2016.

Tim Miller will direct, according to The Hollywood Reporter, with Ryan Reynolds being rumoured to return to the lead role he played in 2009's X-Men Origins (despite his version not proving very popular with Marvel fans).

In a recent interview, Reynolds suggested that the internet's warm response to the more humour-driven, surrealist test footage that leaked of the spin-off helped kick the long-gestating project back in gear.

"The movie has been in a state of limbo for a while - there was such an overpowering reaction to the footage, you sort of feel like, 'Oh, so we weren't crazy for our reasons for loving this character, for loving this role,'" he told the Niagra Falls Review.

"It's interesting to see the power of the Internet. It's awe-inspiring, actually, and it's neat that Twitter and Facebook and Instagram can move mountains when used in the right way."

If 20th Century Fox really has been influenced by the fan support for the superhero, here's hoping they have the sense to stick with Blur Studios's less serious, more self-aware version of him.