Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are finally reuniting for a definitive two-hander film playing their iconic Marvel characters in Deadpool & Wolverine. Being the only MCU release of the year, all hopes are pinned on the film to deliver an exhilarating Marvel movie that brings back the franchise’s glory. The film is also taking a big swing as the film is their first R-rated film.
Incorporating a wacky character like Deadpool into the MCU was a whole new territory for the MCU and Feige was unsure about how to get there. However, as he revealed in a new interview, Reynolds’ pitch for the character and the imminent arrival of the X-Men helped Feige crack open ideas about their entries into the MCU.
Ryan Reynolds Pitched Ideas for X-Men In Addition to Deadpool & Wolverine
The upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine has been a dream for Ryan Reynolds for many years. He has been envisioning a buddy film with Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine since working on X-Men: Origins Wolverine. With Deadpool coming to the MCU, the opportunities opened up even after Jackman hung up his claws in Logan.
Reynolds approached Kevin Feige post the Disney-Fox acquisition. with various treatments for the film which got Feige thinking. The MCU head honcho had been toying with how he should incorporate mutants and the X-Men at the time, and Reynolds may have also pitched ideas about it as he tells Empire magazine.
Feige stated that he initially thought of introducing the X-Men by going the ‘greatest hits’ route: things and approaches that have worked before. He praised Reynolds for being an idea machine and pitched X-Men introduction ideas during their discussions about Deadpool & Wolverine. Feige said,
“The truth is, I wasn’t even sure how to incorporate Deadpool yet. I was very much thinking about how to bring mutants and the X-Men into [the MCU], and I thought it needed to be more than just playing the hits. But the truth is, Ryan is an idea machine. So he may have pitched that to me, but he also pitched 25 other thoughts and ideas.”
Reynolds and Feige seem to have found a creative synergy while discussing Deadpool and the future of X-Men. Reynolds’ creative ideas cracked open how Deadpool should be incorporated into the MCU, something Feige was struggling with, and he seems to have done that with the X-Men also. It remains to be seen if Deadpool & Wolverine harbors any tease about the MCU’s X-Men.
Ryan Reynolds Brainstormed Every Possible Treatment for Deadpool & Wolverine
Deadpool & Wolverine is arguably Ryan Reynolds‘ passion project that he has been working hard to happen. By the time, he came to Kevin Feige to pitch ideas for the film, he had 18 different pitches for the film as he tells Empire Magazine. Reynolds revealed how he envisioned the film based on different budgets and narrative treatment.
The actor stated that some of his pitches felt like a Sundance film under $10 million where they would do something entirely different with the IP. He also had a much bigger treatment including a mid-range-budget pitch in between (he was ready for every possible scenario about a Deadpool and Wolverine film as he approached Feige). Reynolds said,
“I went back to the drawing board, and I wrote up about 18 different treatments. Some of them almost like a Sundance film, a budget of under $10 million, sort of using the IP in a way that they previously hadn’t used, and I pitched bigger movies, and I pitched things in-between”
Reynolds and Jackman are co-leading the film with Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, and Matthew Macfadyen also playing pivotal roles. With major Marvel cameos expected from Deadpool & Wolverine, expectations are high and director Shawn Levy seems to have cooked something special.
Deadpool & Wolverine hits theatres on July 26, 2024.
