Within the Brutal Superhero Feature

Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, and director Shawn Levy discuss how Blake Lively’s ping-pong table contributed to the introduction of R-rated mischief in the MCU.

The third Deadpool film was in d𝔞nger of failing. Given the enormous popularity of the super-sarcastic anti-hero and the fact that the first two movies, which were released in 2016 and 2018, had brought in a combined total of about $1.5 billion at the global box office, it sounded almost unreal. The formula for comic book movies had also received a much-needed kicƙ in the pants from Ryan Reynolds’s coarse and vulg𝔞r R-rated persona, which provided a shot of irreverent adrenaline and demonstrated that the genre had a sizable adult-only following. The chatterbox 𝔞ssassin’s luck then changed against him.

After Hugh Jackman decided he wanted to bring Wolverine back to life and trade barbs with Reynolds, the film had to actually cl𝔞w its way back into being. The two even practiced their comedic skills with director Shawn Levy during the final film shoot, sparring on a ping-pong table that Reynolds’s wife Blake Lively provided. But getting there was a little more difficult than any of them had anticipated. The stars and director of Deadpool 3—which ultimately became Deadpool & Wolverine—discuss in this new interview with Vanity Fair how the film almost got put on indefinite hold.

The tr𝔞sh-talking Marvel character’s original license to 20th Century Fox as a member of the X-Men franchise presented one obstacle. (Reynolds made his debut as Deadpool in the 2009 studio picture X-Men Origins: Wolverine, opposite Jackman’s ill-tempered bruiser.) Fan anticipation for the appearance of X-Men characters in the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe was muted when the Walt Disney Company acquired Fox in 2019; they wondered how the family-friendly House of Mouse would handle Deadpool’s pranks and ribaldry.

But Marvel Studios was willing to take a chance, so Levy—who had previously collaborated with Reynolds on The Adam Project in 2022 and Free Guy in 2021—signed on to direct the third entry. It so happened that Levy had previously worked with Jackman, having directed him in the 2011 robot-gladiator film Real Steel. However, at first, there was no talk of a team-up film starring Jackman, since the actor had publicly given up on the role following the critical and financial triumph of 2017’s Logan, which marked an emotional and final end to the character. Jackman has even received advice from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige not to meddle with that legacy.

For months, Levy, Reynolds, and a group of writers labored diligently to craft a fresh Deadpool narrative, but their efforts proved fruitless. With nothing else to do, the two were ready to let it go. Then, after a quite heated debate with himself, Jackman decided that Wolverine should really go on. Thus, Deadpool 3 sprang to life and became Deadpool & Wolverine, which will make its theatrical premiere on July 26. Here is how the three explain the strange beginning of the film—as well as the importance of having a ping-pong table on set—in their own words: