As a character, Deadpool is known for a lot of things. He’s, of course, the “Merc with the Mouth” aka a mercenary who is a loudmouth. He’s also sarcastic, breaks the fourth wall… and did we mention he likes to talk?
But one thing that wouldn’t immediately come to mind when thinking of Deadpool is… warmth.
Yet, that’s what director Shawn Levy is bringing to Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine — the movie event of the summer, which opens in theaters this weekend.
“I know people are expecting the funny; they’re going to get it. They’re expecting the action; they’re going to get it,” Levy, who is also a writer and producer on the film, said. “But the movie has a warmth as a result of the story we tell between these two guys where this unlikely friendship is built. That’s the piece I think people aren’t expecting.”
That said, as much as this film — which has Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool teaming up with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine for the first time — is different, it still has all the hallmarks audiences have come to love about the blockbuster franchise.
“The tone is all Deadpool. The audacity and the subversive humor is all Deadpool. The way that we are self-aware and commenting on culture, even from inside the movie, that’s pure Deadpool DNA, and that is in every frame of the movie,” Levy said. “But by virtue of being the first with Wolverine and Deadpool truly together, the movie is inherently completely different than Deadpool and Deadpool 2. It’s a real odd couple, buddy cop movie.”
Levy — who has helmed blockbusters such as Night at the Museum and Free Guy — wanted to direct Deadpool & Wolverine for a number of reasons.
“I’m a fan of these movies, and I just love collaborating with Ryan Reynolds… We just have this creative brotherhood, and I love Deadpool,” he said. “So, I get to work with my buddy, I get to do a Deadpool movie, and I get to join the MCU. And that was all before I knew Wolverine was going to be in the movie.”
Deadpool & Wolverine follows two hugely successful films, 2016’s Deadpool and 2018’s Deadpool 2, which brought in $784 million and $734 million at the global box office, respectively.
With the new film coming in at No. 1 on Fandango’s list of Most Anticipated Summer Movies of 2024, Levy made sure to put together a great theatrical experience.
“This is built for movie theaters, the visuals are epic-scaled,” he said. “The spectacle is a combination of practical effects and digital effects. The sound, which was mixed with an incredibly attentive, rigorous ear is layered and complex. The songs are raucous, and all of it combines into hopefully an immersive experience. It is really only best delivered in a movie theater.”
But away from all the spectacle, action scenes, and jokes, Deadpool & Wolverine is ultimately a story about two people trying to make their way in the Multiverse.
“If you’re working at Disney, if you’re working with the MCU, you have access to the greatest toy chest there is. The difficult part is being disciplined so that you’re not just saying yes to every cameo, yes to every Easter egg. If you do too much of that, the audience isn’t going to invest in the story,” he said. “The challenge and the only difficult thing was resisting temptation, so that we were always adhering to the central story, which is these two characters.”