Deadpool & Wolverine Star Ryan Reynolds Reflects on First Deadpool, Says He “Let Go of Getting Paid”

After a long wait, Marvel fans are only one week away from getting to see Deadpool & Wolverine in theaters. The movie is set to see the highly-anticipated return of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan. This marks the third Deadpool movie and the fourth time Reynolds has gotten to play the character. After X-Men Origins: Wolverine failed to impress, especially when it came to the portrayal of Deadpool, many never thought Reynolds would get another chance at the character. However, Deadpool was made in 2016 and ended up being a major success. During a recent interview with The New York Times, Reynolds opened up about how his salary wasn’t a priority when getting the first Deadpool made. 

“No part of me was thinking when Deadpool was finally greenlit that this would be a success,” Reynolds explained. “I even let go of getting paid to do the movie just to put it back on the screen: They wouldn’t allow my co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set, so I took the little salary I had left and paid them to be on set with me so we could form a de facto writers room.”

“It was a lesson in a couple of senses,” Reynolds added. “I think one of the great enemies of creativity is too much time and money, and that movie had neither time nor money. It really fostered focusing on character over spectacle, which is a little harder to execute in a comic-book movie. I was just so invested in every micro-detail of it and I hadn’t felt like that in a long, long time. I remembered wanting to feel that more – not just on Deadpool, but on anything.”

“Necessity is the mother of invention. The more constraints you place on a creative process, the more you think outside of the box,” Reynolds shared. “So, personally, I didn’t want more money than we needed. We wanted just enough money to make what we set out to make, but also find ways to creatively pivot.”  

What Is Deadpool & Wolverine About?

In Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) will change the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). The film also stars Matthew Macfadyen as Paradox, and Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova, with the return of Deadpool alums Morena Baccarin as Vanessa Carlysle, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Stefan Kapičić as Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Rob Delaney as Peter, and Lewis Tan as Shatterstar. Aaron Stanford is returning as Pyro from the X-Men film series, with Jennifer Garner rumored to return as Elektra Natchios. 

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 and Simon Kinberg serving as executive producers. Deadpool & Wolverine is written by Ryan Reynolds & Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick & Zeb Wells & Shawn Levy.

Deadpool & Wolverine will be released exclusively in theaters on July 26th.