If you thought Ryan Reynolds was cool, calm, and collected when he suited up as Deadpool, think again. The actor first portrayed the Merc With a Mouth in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, before starring in a solo Deadpool movie in 2016. The latter film remained close to the source material by depicting Wade Wilson as the fourth-wall-breaking character fans came to love in the comics. Before Deadpool 3 was officially announced with Hugh Jackman returning as Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds is looking back at what worried him about playing the character after his previous comic book movie, Green Lantern, bombed at the box office.
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“I’d been in the comic book arena before, to no real success,” Ryan Reynolds told The Hollywood Reporter. “And I thought, ‘Wow, if this doesn’t work, I’m gonna let people down.’ And that was my biggest fear, was just letting folks down who loved this character.”
Disney made a major move to incorporate X-Men characters into its Marvel family when the company added Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and Logan to Disney+. The parental controls update on Disney+ allowed the streamer to add R-rated/adult content, such as the three movies above and Marvel’s former Netflix shows (Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher).
Shawn Levy, who directed Ryan Reynolds in Free Guy and The Adam Project, has been named the director of Deadpool 3. Coincidentally, Hugh Jackman had a hand in introducing Reynolds and Levy to each other. With fans not-so-patiently waiting for Jackman’s Wolverine to spare with Deadpool on the big screen again, ComicBook.com spoke to Reynolds about the possibility of teaming with Shawn Levy again for Deadpool 3.
“That would be amazing,” Reynolds told ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview, showing his support for the idea of a Deadpool 3 directed by Levy and bringing Jackman into the cast. “I say write to Kevin Feige, care of Marvel Cinematic Universe at whatever Buena Vista Way. I don’t know where it is, but yeah, that would be nice. That would be a dream. That would be dream come true.” According to Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige in August of 2021, Deadpool 3 is in active development.
With Deadpool 3 on the horizon, Ryan Reynolds has begun training for his return as the Merc With a Mouth. Don Saladino, known for his work transforming celebrities into superheroes through their physique, shared a photo of himself with the Deadpool star on Instagram. “And so it begins,” Saladino wrote in the caption, with the photo showing himself standing beside Reynolds. Deadpool 3 was announced to be releasing on September 6, 2024.
