Deadpool & Wolverine Director Says Hugh Jackman Approved Film’s Riskiest Joke

It’s no surprise that Deadpool’s a jokester, but in Deadpool & Wolverine, he took things up a notch, cracking jokes not just about Disney characters but also about the cast’s personal lives. Obviously, pulling this off means everything has to be cleared before filming, but it’s wild how Ryan Reynolds managed to work Hugh Jackman’s divorce into the movie. This came up on Variety‘s Directors on Directors program, where the movie’s director, Shawn Levy, talked with Jon M. Chu, the director of Wicked. The mention happens during one of the many times Deadpool breaks the fourth wall. There’s no specific context given, but it’s implied since Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness announced their divorce last year after 27 years of marriage.

At one point in the conversation, Chu asks about the scene where the protagonist jokes that Wolverine will be shirtless on screen less often because of the divorce. Levy shared that on the first day of filming, Jackman tried speaking to the camera, but Reynolds quickly reminded him that only Deadpool does that and the rule is the other characters don’t notice. “There’s a joke where we go, ‘this is Logan. He’s normally shirtless, but he let himself go after the divorce’,” Levy says. “Deadpool is an equal-opportunity offender, but we cleared that with Hugh before we laid it out in front of the crew and the world.”

Jackman had said that it was the Deadpool movies that made him rethink retiring as Logan. He also fondly recalled the moment he found out he’d be returning to his Marvel character. A casual joke about his personal life, it seems, really wasn’t a deterrent for him.

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Jackman’s castmate Jennifer Garner was on the receiving end of a similar joke. Although her line was scripted – unlike Jackman’s, which was pure improvisation – the actress still approved the line when Daredevil, played by Garner’s ex-husband Ben Affleck, was mentioned in the production.

Levy had explained earlier in the conversation that in situations like this, there’s always the respect of giving the actors a heads-up beforehand, even when Reynolds goes off-script a bit. “It was all in a playful spirit that everyone felt good about. Those lines wouldn’t be in the movie if Hugh and Jen didn’t think they were funny,” he said.

Deadpool & Wolverine didn’t miss a chance to pack in fourth-wall-breaking jokes, even throwing in references to Jackman and Reynolds’ home countries – Australia and Canada. Blake Lively, who made a special appearance as Ladypool, didn’t escape the humor either.