Ryan Reynolds on Deadpool's future: I'd 'happily be the fifth banana' in a Channing Tatum Gambit movie

Ryan Reynolds isn't ready to say goodbye to Deadpool just yet, but he is ready to have the Merc with a Mouth take a big step back from the spotlight in future onscreen appearances.

During his recent "Actors on Actors" conversation with Andrew Garfield for Variety, Reynolds opened up about what the future holds for his R-rated Marvel franchise after this summer's box office-busting smash hit Deadpool & Wolverine. "My feeling is that that character works very well in two ways: scarcity and surprise," Reynolds told Garfield. "It's been six years since the last one and part of the reason is that it swallows my whole life."

Related: Ryan Reynolds says Marvel is 'obsessed' with Channing Tatum's Gambit after Deadpool & Wolverine

Reynolds explained that making a Deadpool movie is all-consuming, beginning with "development through post production into marketing and promo," and he also shares four kids with wife Blake Lively. "I don't ever want to be absentee and I don't ever want to miss stuff [in their lives]," he added. "So I don't know what the future of Deadpool will be."

That's why he's proud that he and director Shawn Levy made the story of Deadpool & Wolverine "a complete experience instead of a commercial for another one."

"It's important sometimes to make space for a movie to just be a movie," he added. "The other thing is, I see Deadpool as a supporting much more than he is a main [character], the center. We center him sometimes because that's what they want, but you can't center him unless you take everything away from him. You have to create a situation where he's so much the underdog, and I don't think I can do that again."

He continued, "So I think if he comes back, it's going to be in someone else's movie. Channing Tatum was so excited to play Gambit [in Deadpool & Wolverine], and I would happily be the fifth banana in his movie or anyone else's."

Watch Reynolds and Garfield's "Actors on Actors" conversation below:

Related: Deadpool & Wolverine script reveals the dirty Mickey Mouse joke Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy had to cut

Last month, Reynolds revealed that Marvel is "obsessed" with Tatum's long-awaited turn as Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine.

"I honestly don't know what goes on behind closed doors in the bookkeeping sessions at Marvel, but I do know that they're obsessed with him in that role," Reynolds told EW of Tatum's card-slinging Cajun mutant. "It's kind of like the same situation I went through. Once you show that it works well, that's really what they need. Sometimes they just need to see it in action."

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Reynolds was referring to the test footage of his Deadpool that leaked in 2014 and proved to the studio that there was enough hype to move forward with a movie. Earlier this year, Reynolds admitted he "might have provided an assist" in that leak. In a similar way, he hopes Deadpool & Wolverine can be a proof of concept to Marvel to bring back Tatum as Gambit. "And Channing is so singular in how he plays that character," Reynolds continued, "but also he's so beautiful physically, the way he moves and the way he can pick up steps."

In a social media post, Tatum reflected on Reynolds’ support in reviving his version of Gambit after numerous production delays and Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox ultimately shelved his passion project indefinitely. "I thought I had lost Gambit forever," Tatum said. "But he fought for me and Gambit. I will owe him probably forever. Cause I’m not sure how I could ever do something that would be equal to what this has meant to me. I love ya buddy."

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