Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman recently returned on screen in their iconic superhero roles with Deadpool & Wolverine. The two actors went full throttle with their banter, action, and satire of the MCU. The Merc with a Mouth and Wolverine’s dynamic is not smooth sailing as they even go hard at each other.
Jackman’s return was one of the film’s main selling orbits, and his incredible agility and confidence with which he played Wolverine proved that he hadn’t lost his mojo. Even at 55, the X-Men star performed the intense action sequences with zeal and ferocity so much so that Reynolds was scared sh*tless while performing with him.
Ryan Reynolds Was Concerned For His Safety While Facing Off Against Hugh Jackman
Deadpool & Wolverine brought together the titular duo since their brief interaction in the rather infamous 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The two characters naturally are like oil and water and do not get along when they first meet. They engage in a bloody brawl twice in the film as they disagree on certain things and ideas.
Hugh Jackman returns to the role of Wolverine, a role that he has played since the 2000s X-Men. Even after 24 years, the actor’s performance still had the animalistic rage required to bring the character to life. At 55, he has not slowed down in his movements and is still incredibly fit. His co-star Ryan Reynolds was shocked by his physical strength as well as in awe of Jackman during the fight sequences.
In an interview for People where the two stars interviewed each other, Reynolds revealed that he couldn’t believe some of the physical choreography that Jackman pulled off for the fight sequences in the film. The Les Misérables star defied his age with the speed and confidence with which he was able to move his body. Reynolds was terrified during those scenes as Jackman was not pulling his punches and believed he might get decapitated. He said,
I have some insight into you being 55 and doing Deadpool & Wolverine. I couldn’t believe what I saw with what you did [physically for this movie. You hit your marks in those fight scenes with speed and confidence the likes of which I have never seen before. I don’t care if you were 25, 35, 45 or 50. There’s no way this guy is pulling his punch. I will be decapitated by Hugh Jackman and that will be his fu*king cross to bear, not mine.
Jackman is a true artist and commits 100% to his role. Even at his age, the actor continues to show that he is much more agile and committed than actors who are younger than him. The duo successfully delivered a true comic-book movie filled with awesome moments and thrilling action sequences.
Deadpool & Wolverine Had Some Wild Narrative Ideas Before Hugh Jackman’s Inclusion
Deadpool & Wolverine became the quintessential road trip film about friendship and the importance of lost legacy. However, Hugh Jackman was not in the first few treatments of the third Deadpool film as he had announced his retirement. In an interview with CBR, executive producer Wendy Jacobson revealed that Ryan Reynolds had multiple ideas for the film that were wildly different from one another.
Jacobson stated that at one time, the film was going to be like an indie road trip movie with Deadpool & Dopinder, along with a frame-by-frame remake of Thor 2. They even had an idea of Deadpool being in the MCU all along where it was going to be revealed that his scenes were left on the cutting floor, The producer said,
So many different ideas, they really ran the gamut. I think at one point, we had a very modestly budgeted indie road trip movie with him and Dopinder. We had a frame-for-frame remake of Thor 2 with Deadpool in it until the first-act break. We had all kinds of things. We had Deadpool’s deleted scenes extravaganza where we were going to show that Deadpool was in the MCU all along — his scenes were just on the cutting room floor. So, those were just a few of the crazy ideas.
Jackman’s return put an end to all those plans (while it would have been great to see those exciting ideas come to life). Deadpool & Wolverine has opened to a historic opening weekend collection, grossing $211 million (via Variety), the highest ever for an R-rated film. The film is in theatres everywhere and is running successfully.
