Deadpool and Wolverine is called to be one of the great films of 2024but it was on the verge of being archived completely.
Director Shawn Levy, along with stars Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds, discussed the process of introducing Deadpool into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) during an interview with Vanity Fair. The Deadpool actor himself said that he felt the desire to play the mercenary with a mouth in an independent film at least one more time. However, he feels that making Deadpool movies requires a lot of sacrifice, noting: “There’s a reason it’s been six years since the last one.”.
“In a normal movie, you go out of your way. But in a movie like this, you give up many things that you perhaps took for granted: sleeping, seeing your family, the myth of the present father,” Reynolds said. “There’s a lot of sacrifice. They are all problems of high society. “I have a very intense relationship with the character and the world he inhabits.”
Reynolds explained that, following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019, he was sending “a ton” of ideas to Marvel, adding that It was “difficult to find my place in the UCM”. Even after Levy enthusiastically joined the team, the biggest obstacle came from trying to find a narrative that made sense for the character.
“We struggled to find a story that felt original and not derivative of the other two Deadpool movies. It had to be worthy of Deadpool’s first entry in the MCU, but also have your feet on the ground because it is a realistic, raw superhero franchise. We had comings and goings. Ryan and I were about to tell Kevin [Feige]: ‘Did you know? Maybe now is not the right time because we are not coming up with a story‘.”
Deadpool’s future in the MCU was at stake. However, Everything changed when Reynolds’ phone rang.. In August 2022, a vacationing Jackman knew what he wanted his next big movie to be: Deadpool and Wolverine.
“I was sitting on a beach without a care in the world, and for some reason an idea popped into my head: What do you want to do?“Jackman explained. “The first two things had nothing to do with work; so I literally thought: Deadpool-Wolverine. I want to make that movie. That is what I want”.
It’s a story Jackman has told before, but now we know how important that call was for Reynolds, Levy and Deadpool. Reynolds said he had a meeting with Feige coming up, and with Jackman now on board, Deadpool and Wolverine had a direction.
This is a one in a billion chance. I really feel like this is what we were looking for.
“On Zoom with Kevin, we got straight to the point” Reynolds added. “We said, ‘Look, this call just came in. I think we would be idiots to ignore this gift. This is a one in a billion chance. I really feel like this is what we’ve been looking for.'”
Although Feige had warned Jackman about returning as Wolverine after the success of Logan, the actor felt that a film with Deadpool could harness the clawed hero’s potential in new ways.
“Everything seemed new and fresh to me,” Jackman said. “And I would share it with Ryan and Shawn, who are two of my best friends. The three of us together are like Three Friends. There was not a single day that I didn’t cry from laughter. I felt so rejuvenated playing the role. I’m 25 years in and I feel better than ever“.
After a long battle to get it started, Deadpool and Wolverine premieres on July 26, 2024. More details about the third Deadpool movie were also recently revealed, promising an MCU entry that takes place six years after Deadpool 2If you want to know more, you can see why Levy thinks his new film will be unlike anything else in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
