Posted in: 20th Century Studios, Marvel Studios, Movies | Tagged: deadpool & wolverine, shawn levy

Deadpool & Wolverine: Story Will Dictate Which Characters Will Appear

Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy reveals that they didn't have a character wishlist but that characters were added as the story dictated.

When Marvel decided to make the Multiverse a thing with multiple films and shows leaning into the ideas of variants and alternate universes, it was only a matter of time before someone decided to lean all the way in regarding the Fox Marvel character. Due to Marvel selling the adaptation rights of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and more, by the time they started their own studio, most of their most recognizable characters were at other studios. They have been slowly getting the characters back by buying Fox or working in tandem with the studio in question, like with Sony. Deadpool joining the Marvel universe and the set leaks featuring a giant 20th Century Fox logo were all the confirmation that fans needed that there would be some deep cuts in this film, likely from the early 2000s era of superhero movies. Hugh Jackman's return as Wolverine is the most obvious, but Aaron Stanford, as Pyro from the second and third X-Men movies, showed they wouldn't take the easy way out regarding these characters. They also weren't going to shoehorn characters in for the sake of cameos, either. Director Shawn Levy explained to Entertainment Weekly that they didn't have a "wishlist" of characters they wanted in the movie, but instead, characters were added if the story asked for them. "I'll say we didn't start off with a wishlist," Levy says of all these special appearances. "From the day we started devising this Deadpool and Wolverine story, we let the story dictate the characters, not the other way around. Aaron and his return as Pyro was an outgrowth of that, and that applies to pretty much all the characters you'll see in the movie."

We learned a couple of days ago that Kevin Feige advised Jackman not to return to the role of Wolverine due to the ending of Logan being just that good. Jackman also went on the record and explained he realized he wanted to return when he went on a "long drive." One would think that Jackman was mulling over an offer or ten from Ryan Reynolds, but Levy revealed that it was the other way around. They weren't asking Jackman to return; Jackman reached out to them, saying he was up for returning. Levy explained, "Everyone assumed that Hugh's return was the result of me or Ryan pestering or pitching him relentlessly. But even more miraculously, this was the result of a Hugh Jackman epiphany. He wanted to do this team-up of Logan and Deadpool, and so it really was a sky-opening gift from the heavens type of phone call that changed everything."

It was more like a shift in everything they were thinking of doing regarding the film that would eventually become Deadpool & Wolverine. Levy and Reynolds had been kicking around a bunch of ideas, but Jackman agreeing to reprise the role changed how they were approaching the movie in an extreme way. "Everything changed radically on the day that Hugh called Ryan," Levy explained. "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." That's the second time someone has mentioned that once Jackman was confirmed to be involved, everything came together "quickly." We're going to cross our fingers that it means it is a good thing and no one rushed to the finish line to try and get this movie out. Instead, we can hope it was like one of those seeing-eye pictures; everything came into focus, and they were off to the races.

Deadpool & Wolverine: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

Shawn Levy directs Deadpool & Wolverine, which stars Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, and Matthew Macfadyen.

Kevin Feige, Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy, and Lauren Shuler Donner produce with Louis D'Esposito, Wendy Jacobson, Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, George Dewey, Simon Kinberg, and Jonathon Komack Martin serving as executive producers. Deadpool & Wolverine is written by Ryan Reynolds & Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick & Zeb Wells & Shawn Levy.

Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine opens in U.S. & Canadian movie theaters on July 26 and will be available in IMAX, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, Cinemark XD, and premium screens everywhere.

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