Shawn Levy talks about Hugh Jackman’s return changed the game for Deadpool & Wolverine.
Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy talked about how Hugh Jackman signing on changed the sequel. Entertainment Weekly has a big feature about the Marvel Studios movie this morning. Of course, the questions about Jackman’s biggest return to action in years persist. Interestingly, it seems as though the plot of Deadpool 3 was very different before Ryan Reynolds called his friend up for one last ride in the saddle. Chances are doubtful that we’ll ever know exactly what Levy had on the table for Deadpool & Wolverine in its previous state. However, fans probably won’t care too much, as long as the movie released this summer proves to be amazing.
“Everything changed radically on the day that Hugh called Ryan,” Levy told EW when they asked about the Wolverine actor. “We had been workshopping a lot of ideas about possible stories for a third Deadpool movie. Those were story ideas that were more sequelly to the first two Deadpools, but None of them imagined such a seismic shift. I can safely say that the story completely changed and, in fact, came to us very, very quickly starting that day.”
Getting Jackman Into Deadpool & Wolverine
Jackman’s involvement in Deadpool & Wolverine is just one of many ideas that Reynolds had for the sequel. In a recent Empire Magazine interview, Kevin Feige looked back on those paths not taken. One thing he was resolute about was the idea of not usurping the ending for Wolverine that Logan provided. A lot of fans also hold that entry in the X-Men movie franchise as almost sacred, so his intentions have been mostly correct there. However, viewers still don’t know much about this version of Wolverine that “failed his reality” in Deadpool & Wolverine. Feige and company are really excited for whatever’s coming in the summer blockbuster.
“The truth is, I wasn’t even sure how to incorporate Deadpool yet,” Feige shared recently. “I was very much thinking about how to bring mutants and the X-Men into [the MCU], and I thought it needed to be more than just playing the hits. But the truth is, Ryan is an idea machine. So he may have pitched that to me, but he also pitched 25 other thoughts and ideas.”
Deadpool & Wolverine Evolved A Lot Over Time
From all of these statements, a clear picture emerges. Deadpool & Wolverine is a movie that has changed multiple times during the long road to production. One event that also shaped this film was the writers and actors strikes. Levy previously told The Associated Press that all the time on the sidelines gave him time to find perspective. Then, when the writers got their contract, the fine-tuning began in earnest.
“The impact was real,” Levy revealed. “For me as the director, and the producer, the multi-month pause happened right in the middle of filming. All I could do was edit and review the footage. But it taught me about my movie, and it really revealed what was working and what the movie wanted to be.”
“It really focused our work and I think improved our work in the second half,” Levy continued. “That’s not a luxury we ever get in live-action filmmaking.”
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