Shawn Levy is an incredible filmmaker and is known for creating out-of-the-box and entertaining features. After helming the Night at the Museum movies to producing Stranger Things, his upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine is one of the most anticipated features of recent times. Yet, before Levy was attached to the project, the star of the movie Ryan Reynolds was afraid that the filmmaker would say no.
Having already rejected Hugh Jackman’s The Wolverine in the past once, Levy was, however, regretful and jumped on the wagon as soon as he was offered the chance.
Ryan Reynolds Thought Shawn Levy Would Say No to Deadpool & Wolverine
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman‘s upcoming Marvel flick, Deadpool & Wolverine, is expected to become one of the best Marvel movies of all time. Every superhero aficionado is eagerly awaiting that fateful day in July to watch the potential blockbuster on the big screen.
However, the much-anticipated movie might have looked way too different if Shawn Levy had said no to directing it. While on set of The Adam Project, Ryan Reynolds, aka the fan-favorite Deadpool, was afraid that Levy would say no to the film.
Having worked with Levy on The Adam Project and Free Guy, Reynolds was expecting his good friend to be the director, producer, and co-writer. However, all of Reynolds’ fears were in vain, for Levy agreed to the proposal the moment he got it.
In the new issue of Empire Magazine, the filmmaker remarked,
“On the set of The Adam Project, Ryan asked me if I would consider doing Deadpool 3. And I remember him saying, ‘I know you’re gonna say no, but I’m really going to try and talk you into it.’ And my response was, ‘I’m not gonna fucking say no, are you kidding? It’s a hard and immediate yes, sir!'”
While Wolverine wasn’t slated to appear in the movie back then, Levy, who was already regretful of rejecting The Wolverine, perhaps knew that such an opportunity would not come again.
Shawn Levy Regrets Rejecting Hugh Jackman’s The Wolverine
When Shawn Levy was offered Deadpool 3, Wolverine wasn’t even attached to the movie. In fact, the script of the movie was yet to be fully developed. But as fate would have it, Levy’s attachment to the movie was followed by Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine’s entry. And it was no less than a golden opportunity for him since he was already regretful of having rejected the 2013 flick, The Wolverine.
While talking to Empire Magazine, Levy remarked how the opportunity presented him with the chance to reunite with Jackman after Real Steel, and also to make up for rejecting The Wolverine.
“When we were making Real Steel, Hugh was looking to do The Wolverine, and he asked me if I wanted to do it. And like a moron, I said, ‘No’. Because I was thinking at that time, ‘Well, it’s your fifth time playing the character, I’m doing original films et cetera’. And I regretted it deeply for years. And so, when the opportunity came around again, thank God I was older and wiser enough to jump at the opportunity.”
Describing Deadpool & Wolverine’s team-up as a recipe for conflict, Levy, too, is eagerly waiting for fans to see the upcoming Marvel flick.
Deadpool & Wolverine will be in theatres on July 26, 2024.
