A few months back I had a chance to get up close and personal with the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. We met in a South London Warehouse; Deadpool lounged on a shagpile rug, showed off his weaponry, and we discussed the launch of the upcoming American superhero film, Deadpool, the story of his life so far.

Well, not quite.

My client was Rainbow Productions, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of mascot and character costumes. The nice chap roped into being the anti-hero was the anti-actor and newest member of the sales team, Matt.

Rainbow Productions brief: to make identically sized Deadpool costumes to be shipped worldwide for Red Carpet productions who were in charge of the cinema launch for 20th Century Fox.

It was a great pleasure coming face-to-face with the sarcastic superhero himself. I didn’t realise a superhero such as Deadpool could be such a sensitive conversationalist. He asked about my career as a London portrait photographer, and even suggested I make friends with his new friends, whose skins hung all around us in the costume warehouse; Pepper Pig, Tinky Winky, Postman Pat, and my personal favorite, Pingu, to name drop just a few…

On the rug with … Deadpool.