Deadpool 3 director Shawn Levy has said that Ryan Reynolds wants to see Deadpool “lose” in the MCU sequel.
Some movie stars, like Dwayne Johnson, have it in their contracts to never lose fights, but the same can’t be said for Red Notice co-star, Ryan Reynolds who has frequently gotten his ass kicked in front of audiences.
Before filming for Deadpool 3 was shut down due to Disney and other major film studios refusing to properly compensate writers and actors, fans already had a glimpse of the Merc with a Mouth and Wolverine fighting. From what little was seen, Logan was thoroughly thrashing Deadpool on a set reminiscent of Loki.
Wolverine Wins While Deadpool Loses
In an interview on The Jess Cagle Show, Deadpool 3 director Shawn Levy was asked how the threequel will let Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds shine without “falling into punching each other for 20 minutes” with no one winning.
Levy expresses that “the reason they’re close friends of mine” is due to them being “grounded, generous people” who “love each others’ jam:”
“Here’s the truth. Ryan and Hugh, and the reason they’re close friends of mine is, they’re both extremely grounded, generous people and I will say one of the great luxuries for me on [Deadpool 3] is that both of them: they love each others’ jam.”
Because they’re so grounded and generous, “both guys are always trying to set up the other to win,” but that Reynolds “is amazing at wanting Deadpool to lose:”
“Hugh is such a fan of Ryan’s and Ryan knows the opportunity that it is to have Wolverine co-star in a Deadpool movie. Both guys are always trying to set up the other to win and I’ll say this, because Ryan also was my fellow writer on this movie and is my fellow producer on this movie at every turn, Ryan is amazing at wanting Deadpool to lose.”
The reason that Deadpool loses is due to him being “deeply flawed,” while “Wolverine is Wolverine,” but it’s also because Ryan believes what matters most is what happens is “most satisfying to the story” and not serving his ego:
“The truth is that Deadpool’s awesome, but he’s deeply flawed and Wolverine is Wolverine and so I’ll just say that as a 360-[degree] creative force Ryan operates from a place of ‘what’s going to be most satisfying to the story’ not from a place of ‘well, I gotta get equal number of victories and punches into the other character’.”
Regardless of who wins or loses, Shavy, who considers himself “an audience member before [he’s] a director,” feels that it’s “a dream come true” to get these two stars together “in their most iconic roles:”
“…for us as audience members because I count myself — I’m an audience member before I’m a director — to get these two movie stars in their most iconic roles, together, is a dream come true.”
Deadpool Losing Limbs
It’s nothing new for Deadpool to lose in this franchise, which is helped by the anti-hero having a healing factor equal or greater to Wolverine himself. Compared to other blockbuster protagonists, losing for Deadpool most often ends with some R-rated slapstick with him as the victim.
Deadpool 3 will no doubt lean heavily on Deadpool’s in-universe reverence of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, which will likely result in the merc humorously losing several more limbs to Logan’s claws. However, it’d be fun to see Wolverine have his own share of punishment, whether it be from Deadpool or the film’s villain.
Deadpool 3 is still slated to release in theaters in 2024.
