Summary

Hugh Jackman’s surprising call to Ryan Reynolds saved the
Deadpool
sequel from being shelved.
The long-awaited live-action Marvel team-up between Deadpool and Wolverine is finally happening.
Despite concerns about
Logan’s
legacy,
Deadpool & Wolverine
will honor the emotional ending.

While a third Deadpool movie seemed inevitable from a fan’s perspective, it wasn’t quite the case in the film’s writers’ room, and director Shawn Levy and star Ryan Reynolds nearly pulled the plug on the movie…that is until Hugh Jackman came to the rescue. Deadpool & Wolverine gives fans the live-action Marvel team up they’ve been waiting for since Jackman first played Wolverine 24 years ago in the first X-Men. Both characters are finally coming to the MCU, and Reynolds and Levy both give a lot of credit to Hugh Jackman, who saved the project from nearly being shelved.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Levy, Reynolds, and Jackman sat down to discuss the film’s production process. During the chat, Levy and Reynolds revealed that they came incredibly close to putting the project on hold, as writer’s block held them both like a vice. Levy explained:

“We frankly struggled to find a story that felt original and non-derivative of the other two Deadpool movies. It had to be deserving of the first Deadpool entry into the MCU, but also feel grounded because this is an earthbound, gritty, realistic superhero franchise. We had fits and starts. And Ryan and I were right at the edge of saying to Kevin, ‘You know what? Maybe now is not the right moment because we’re not coming up with a story.’ And that is the moment when Ryan’s phone rang, and it was Hugh calling from his car. And I’ll let Hugh tell that chapter of this story.”

Hugh Jackman then described how his revelation about wanting to play Wolverine again came during some off-time during a run on Broadway (where Jackman starred in The Music Man). After reaching his final decision, Jackman called Ryan Reynolds to tell him the good news, literally minutes before Reynolds was about to tell Marvel Studios exec Kevin Feige to pull the plug on the film. Jackman said:

“It was August 15, 2022. I was driving at the start of a week’s vacation from Broadway. The Broadway thing is full-on – we were nine months in, six days a week. When you get a week off, there’s something so miraculous about it and freeing. I was sitting on a beach, not a care in the world, and for some reason, the thought came into my head: What do you want to do? And the first two things had nothing to do with work – then literally, I thought: Deadpool-Wolverine. I want to do that movie. That’s what I want.
Then I had an hour and a half to drive home, and I thought, I’ve got to ring Ryan. I didn’t know where they were in the process, but I actually thought you guys might be about to start filming.”

Hugh Jackman Was Worried About Tarnishing Logan’s Legacy

As excited as fans were about Hugh Jackman returning to play Wolverine (in the MCU, no less) it also came with one looming question: ‘Didn’t Wolverine die in Logan?’ During the conversation, Jackman revealed that he was thinking the exact same thing as he drove home from the beach. Jackman described his thought process, saying:

“Fairly quickly after came another thought: But you’ve already finished with Logan. We stuck the landing. What are people going to think? And I just said to my brain: Stop. That’s what I wanted.”

Related Deadpool 3 Will Protect the Logan Legacy As It Brings the X-Men Into the MCU Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, and Shawn Levy, explain how Deadpool & Wolverine will honor and respect Logan’s emotional ending and legacy.

It is currently unclear if Deadpool & Wolverine will be Hugh Jackman’s last time playing Wolverine. Ryan Reynolds also hasn’t confirmed whether he’ll be hanging up Deadpool’s iconic red suit after Deadpool & Wolverine, but both are rumored to appear in the upcoming Avengers sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, which is due to hit theaters on May 7, 2027.

Deadpool & Wolverine
releases in theaters on July 26, 2024, as part of Phase Five of the MCU.