One of the best aspects of Deadpool was the way that Ryan Reynolds emoted so well without the use of facial expressions, what with his wearing a mask for much of the film to cover up Wade Wilson’s hideously scarred face. Earlier this week, IGN premiered a featurette going behind the scenes to showcase how the mask itself aided Reynolds, how it was constructed, and some of the intricacies that went into its design.
And man, does it look like it took a lot of work. The interchangeable eyeholes are one of the more fascinating aspects of the mask, allowing it to be adapted for different emotions and action scenes (somehow, the shape of the eyes affected Reynolds’ ability to breathe in the mask). Check out the video above for a dizzying display of engineering, 3D printing and advanced tech that came together to create the iconic piece of equipment.