The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to welcome a dynamic duo like no other with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in the upcoming release of Deadpool & Wolverine.
For Reynolds, the opportunity to work with Jackman is a dream finally realized. After making his debut as The Merc with a Mouth in X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009, Reynolds knew that one day he wanted to make his Deadpool-Wolverine team-up official once more on the big screen. He even asked Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige about it when Disney acquired Fox – the then-studio behind both characters – in 2019.
“I’ve waited my whole life to work with him in this way,” he tells Complex. “The opportunity to do something just slightly new with [Wolverine] in this movie was really special,” Reynolds adds.
Jackman, synonymous with Wolverine for over two decades and who fans thought they had seen the last of after his death in Logan (2017), brings a new level of enthusiasm to this project, largely fueled by a long-overdue costume change with his debut in the comic-accurate yellow suit. “I looked in the mirror and was like, ‘Damn, how the hell did I not do this for the last 24 years?” Jackman comments with a chuckle.
This film not only brings these two powerhouse actors together, but also marks a new chapter for the duo as they transition from the Fox era to Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, an exciting new playground with endless possibilities. The merger has opened up a treasure trove of possibilities, and Reynolds and Jackman hold no stops exploring this new playground in their upcoming movie.
As Deadpool & Wolverine prepares to hit theaters, the excitement surrounding this Marvel debut is palpable. We caught up with Reynolds and Jackman to talk about working together on this film, donning new fan-favorite suits, how Fox sent messages of support to their former superheroes, and much more.
So Ryan, Deadpool 1 and 2 have some of the most fun action sequences for a superhero movie. How much fun was it developing fight scenes with Wolverine for this project?
Ryan Reynolds: That's a good question. I think Wolverine is the focus. Both of these characters entering the MCU, that's just a privilege. Like, how much fun is that? Because ultimately, I'm a fan. Deadpool's a fan. Deadpool's a fanboy. So that’s a big part of what motivates things, but the gold is in the relationships.
If there's one lesson that I took away from making Deadpool 1, and subsequently every other movie I've ever genuinely produced or been a part of since then, is that you want constraints and necessity is the mother of invention. When you value and prize character over spectacle, great things happen. Movies are memorable for those character beats. People don't remember that massive earth shattering, scary threat from outer space as much as they remember moments between people.
Hugh is such a phenomenal actor, and I got a front row seat to that for the best job of my life. Literally, I feel like I've waited my whole life to work with him in this way, and really hanging our hats on that on the emotion that comes with Logan and Wolverine, and that legacy and the opportunity to do something just slightly new with this character in this movie was really special.
Hugh, we have to talk about the iconic yellow suit. I read there were grown men crying on set when they saw you for the first time. Do you remember the initial emotions you felt when you donned the suit for the first time – and the reactions of everyone around you?
Hugh Jackman: The first time I tried it on was sort of more in private with the creators. And I looked in the mirror and I was like, “Damn, how the hell did I not do this for the last 24 years?” I literally can't imagine now not wearing it, how I could have played the character. It seemed so perfect and when we walked out there, it was a moment I'll never forget.
Those crews aren't easily impressed or they don't often sort of give that up, that it was just clear when something works… and there's not just the suit, there's elements of the script. I feel like there's been really important elements of Wolverine of the 24 years I've had the privilege to play him that are now rounded out, that weren't before.
RR: That was the thing that was the most exciting for me, as a fan of Wolverine, was Hugh. Really, as Shawn [Levy] and I were writing this particular area of the movie, Hugh was the voice. “There's something missing here,” and that's a guy who's filtering an immense amount of experience and success in a whole shit ton of different mediums of storytelling, saying there's something missing here. And when he says that, you listen.
So we got to explore something about Wolverine that is an itch that not just you wanted to scratch, but I think fans of the character wanted to know about, and we got to play that out in a way that was one of the most exciting elements of this.
HJ: When it comes to a grown man crying, me going to the bathroom for the first time in that suit, it's not easy.
RR: Yeah, no, it is not. It's humiliating, actually.
HJ: I still have a handful of pubic hair.
RR: Yeah, it's weird. It’s weird having to hold his hand to take him over there to the bathroom every time. It's like, “You can go on your own, you’re okay. I'm watching. I'll be right outside.” I'll knock it off. This went off the rails, and I'm sorry.
My final question is, has anyone from Fox reached out to you all about the project? Have they said anything since?
HJ: Oh, we both had emails from a key person at Fox, Tom Rothman – if I could summarize the emails it’s: “I'm rooting for you guys.”
RR: Yeah. Tom Rothman’s unfairly blamed for zipping Wade Wilson's mouth in X-Men Origins Wolverine. It was not his decision at all. Had nothing to do with it.
HJ: (mouthing) “It was me.”
RR: Yes, it was 100% you.