While it seems like we’re hit with an ever-increasing barrage of superhero movies each year, Deadpool is surely one of the most anticipated that's yet to see the light of day. The film has been in the works for years now, and finally got some movement when visual effects guru Tim Miller was set as director last April. It’s a hard sell, as star Ryan Reynolds and those creatively involved are adamant that the feature be true to the comic and therefore rated R. Word on the project has been quiet for some time, but comic writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld recently let slip that he may or may not have seen eight minutes of test footage from the film. Details after the jump.Liefeld and Scott Lobdell participated in a panel at the Amazing Arizona Comic Con last weekend, and Liefeld had the following to say about Deadpool (via Bleeding Cool):

“They’ve got a great director on the movie, they’ve got a great script. I may or may have not seen some sort of test of footage that would blow your mind if you saw it and go holy crap and that’s Deadpool in costume. Katana swords, guns, shooting people’s faces off and making me laugh. And I may or may not have seen something that looks just like that. And you’ve got what would amount to the first R-rated X-Men movie. Because that script is R-rated.

They may or may not have wanted to shoot eight minutes to see how it would play. And all I can tell you,  it’s close. It’s closer that it’s even been to going, or going Naaah, that’s too scary a proposition to make an R-rated Deadpool movie.”

If what Liefeld has to say is indeed true, then this is very, very exciting news. It’s not surprising that Fox would want to see some test footage of an R-rated version of Deadpool before giving the go-ahead on the feature film. The market for R-rated superhero movies is indeed a niche one, but it’s not without its successes (thank you Kick-Ass). I’m sincerely hoping that the test went over well, and that a creatively uncompromised Deadpool movie will finally go into production sooner rather than later. You can watch the full panel below.