How Hugh Jackman’s Surprise Call Rescued ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ from the Brink of Being Shelved

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ is one of the most successful movies released this year, grossing over $1 billion at the box office and restoring hope that the MCU isn’t beyond saving.
Ever since the film was first announced, fans were thrilled.

The movie’s production was closely followed by millions worldwide, and as a result, Reynolds admitted that leaks and spoilers kept him awake at night. Despite all the hype, the ‘Deadpool’ threequel almost never came to be, and not for a lack of trying.

In previous interviews, Reynolds revealed that he pitched several different story ideas for Deadpool & Wolverine, but Marvel Studios shot them all down. These ideas ranged from a Rashomon-style story to a Christmas adventure involving Santa.

In his latest interview with Indiewire, Levy revealed they were on the verge of abandoning their plans for ‘Deadpool 3,’ feeling stuck on how to integrate Deadpool’s grounded tone into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

However, Hugh Jackman’s unexpected call expressing his readiness to return as Wolverine transformed their mindset. What was initially a “we’re giving up” meeting with Marvel’s Kevin Feige turned into an exciting brainstorming session.

Jackman’s enthusiasm inspired a fresh story: a buddy-road-trip movie that explores legacy, regret, and redemption, taking cues from classics like ‘Midnight Run’ and ‘Planes, Trains, and Automobiles’. This breakthrough reinvigorated the project and shaped its story.

And from that phone call onward, this pairing unlocked the story for us, and it instantly became not only a Midnight Run, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles-inspired two-hander road trip, but also a movie about legacy and about two characters haunted with regret, who need each other to find redemption, And that really unlocked the writing process for us.

Reynolds said that before the Deadpool-Wolverine team-up became possible, he pitched numerous quirky ideas, while amusing, these pitches were ultimately shelved, and Reynolds agrees that fans—and he himself—are likely happier with Deadpool’s integration into Disney’s Marvel Universe instead of its animated classics.

There was, even before Shawn joined. I must have pitched Kevin a dozen, maybe 16, Deadpool movies, a Sundance Deadpool, which was like a road trip with Margo Martindale, shot on no money, no special effects needed, just character. I pitched Deadpool Is Hunting, the hunter who shot Bambi’s mom finds him, and they fall in love, become, like, Butch and Sundance and of course, I was told we don’t touch Bambi at Disney, and rightly so.

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