“Deadpool & Wolverine” is not the first time those two characters have appeared together. That would be the universally dumped-upon “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009), starring Hugh Jackman in his fourth turn as Logan/Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds as a version of Wade Wilson/Deadpool so far removed from its essence … it’s best left unremarked upon.
But “Deadpool & Wolverine” is the first R-rated Marvel Cinematic Universe entry, and the first R-rated movie to gross more than $1.3 billion. (Although 2016’s “Deadpool” was also R-rated, it is not part of the MCU.)
“If you had told me, as the director of ‘Cheaper by the Dozen,’ that I would end up directing the most successful R-rated movie in history,” says director-producer-co-writer Shawn Levy, “I would have laughed in your face … but secretly been really f— thrilled.”
But the MCU’s multiverse fare, in which versions of characters from different universes meet, had been fading in popularity. And this entry had to move past one of the most celebrated superhero deaths ever, when Wolverine was scratched off in “Logan” (2017). It turned out that the answer was to find “the worst Wolverine” (no, not from “X-Men Origins”), to finally put him in the yellow-and-blue suit from the comics, and to let these three good friends play around loosely with one of the screen’s most popular heroes.
“I think what it unlocked, actually, was what this character has meant to me for 25 years,” says Jackman, who joins his director and co-star (who also co-wrote and produced) for a sit-down chat with The Envelope.
This is a really R-rated movie. As terrifying as it must have been for [Marvel Studios President] Kevin Feige when you said, “We’re going to talk about cocaine —”
Shawn Levy: “We’re going to put pegging in the first Super Bowl commercial.”
Right, and toss out Disney’s name in the same breath. But without those PG-13 limits on language and violence, this is a very different film for the MCU.
Ryan Reynolds: The sneaky thing, the hardest part of this, is we’re also making a four-quadrant movie. I saw R-rated films when I was a kid all the time; they didn’t pander and they just had fun and they kind of let loose.
Levy: Kevin said, “This is the most wholesome R-rated movie I’ve ever seen.” We wanted it to be funny and transgressive and unexpected, but we also wanted it to be poignant. You’re telling a story about two iconic characters, both of whom need to forgive themselves, and they find redemption in each other. We always knew it would have R-rated jokes and violence but was going to stay fundamentally humanist and hopeful in its heart.
Reynolds: Redemption was a big theme, and we all have these maladaptive coping mechanisms for our shame and our baggage and our s— we carry around. [Deadpool’s] is to deflect with humor and [Wolverine’s] is violence.
Well, who hasn’t stabbed people with their claws when they couldn’t cope?
Reynolds: We all have our off days.
I felt the R rating freed Logan to be the Wolverine I imagined from the comics.
Hugh Jackman: That is so awesome to hear you say that. I was saying to these guys, “I’ve been scratching at something that I hadn’t been able to get to somehow.” And somehow these guys wrote so many scenes that allowed you to really understand where that pain comes from, that shame, that anger, that he’s done things he regrets.
Levy: You took this Logan to a primal, painful place that was so bare and authentic. You said — and this wasn’t in the script — when Deadpool goes, “This suit means something; it means you’re an X-Man.” You say, “I am the X-Man.” I mean, g—d—.
Reynolds: So great when you see a moment and go, “Oh, that’s in the movie” [laughter]. [Jackman and I have] been friends for 17 years, but I’m also just a fan. There’s something very different about sitting two feet from him in that [car] scene when he’s tearing Deadpool a new one, and also just getting to watch him work — the amount of things that are happening behind the eyes. I never get sick of that. I think the day you’re not enthusiastic — because you can’t make anything great without enthusiasm — I am grateful I have more now than I ever did when I was younger, and I get to sit there and learn from this guy.
Jackman: I was so glad to come back.
Though Kevin Feige made a good case when he told you, “Don’t come back; ‘Logan’ was the perfect ending.”
Jackman: I thought the same. I was nervous when I rang Ryan. I said, “I feel in my guts, we’ve got to do this.” I don’t often get that feeling. Often, I’ll be up here [pointing to his head]: “Ahh, the pros and cons …” If I’d been up here, I wouldn’t have done it. I said, “I’m nervous, guys.” And [Ryan’s] like, “You’re nervous. We’ve got to write it.”
Reynolds: We also had the best source for information and feelings and ideas, which was Hugh. We were really struggling with the “why” with the suit. Hugh was sort of, “I’m missing something … why this Logan?” And that gave birth to the worst Wolverine, which also gave birth to the idea that the suit is a hair shirt. It’s this penance he’s wearing.
Hugh, you were saying earlier that playing around unlocked something for you. What, exactly?
Jackman: The idea of “I am the X-Man” but also what the suit means to me and being proud to be an X-Man, and what Charles [Xavier] means to me, and why I’m going to risk dying to give [Deadpool] a second chance — they were written in there, don’t get me wrong, but there were some improvs in which a lot of emotion came up.