MANILA, Philippines — Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, with Shawn Levy as director, bring their real-life friendship to the big screen in Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
Ryan is part of the movie’s writing team along with Shawn. Naturally, self-referential and real-life dialogue and banter found their way into the film.
The trio recently graced a virtual press conference while they were promoting their upcoming superhero-action film in South Korea.
“To me, Deadpool, the character, the franchise, the making of these movies, it represents perseverance, in a way. It took me 10 years to get the first movie made. It was one of the most gratifying moments of my life when that film not only came out, but was also so widely embraced all over the world. The second movie was just, again, like, doubling down on an absolute labor of love,” Ryan said about his irreverent, fun-loving antihero character last seen in a standalone film in 2018.
“And then my dream for the last six years was to be able to do a movie with these guys,” he added, referring to Hugh and Shawn.
According to Ryan, their claim of being the closest of friends is genuine.
“I’m sure you have folks come in here from Hollywood, and with most people who work in Hollywood, you shouldn’t believe a word they say, just pathological liars,” he joked.
“But we are. We all hang out every single day in our real lives. We all live just blocks from each other in New York City. I love these two guys the way I would love my own brothers — probably more,” said the Canadian star.
“So getting to do this movie again, it just reaffirms sticking to something and really believing in something.
“Getting to be on a set where we’re making this ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ movie, it’s not something that just fans have wanted to see for over a decade more. It’s something that we’ve wanted to do for just as long.”
Ryan also recalled that it was “very, very difficult” to convince Marvel that this was the way to bring these characters from the “X-Men” universe into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
“Again, it sort of reaffirms what this franchise means to me. It reaffirms that idea that you have to kind of stick to what you believe in,” he added.
As for Hugh, nothing best describes their first-ever collaboration as a “dream project.”
The Australian star said, “Doing this with Ryan and Shawn, who happened to be two of my best friends in the world, is a dream project. I am so proud of how the film came about. I am so thrilled to be back playing a role I didn’t think I would play again.”
Hugh’s last appearance of Wolverine was in the 2017 film “Logan.” Prior to that, he played the iconic superhero for nearly two decades in different “X-Men” films and spin-offs.
He’s embracing this comeback with “all my heart.”
“I’ve never been happier playing the role, and I’ve never been prouder of a ‘Wolverine’ movie or a movie where Wolverine is in it, than this one,” he stated.
“I’m so excited for you to discover it and discover sides of the character we have not explored before.”
Shawn, who’s probably best-known for helming (as director and producer) of the “Night at the Museum” films and Netflix’s hit series “Stranger Things,” expressed that it’s a privilege to work with his friends.
“I think all of us, we have embraced these iconic heroes and these actors as these heroes for years and years and years,” he said.
“And so, to be able to unify them in a story that has action and humor and heart, and to make a summer blockbuster movie, all of us together, putting these iconic heroes on screen for the first time, co-starring in a movie, that’s a privilege for any director.”
Meanwhile, The STAR previewed 30 minutes of the film, during which Deadpool declares himself the Marvel messiah or savior. Coincidence or not but it was reported last month that Disney was reducing its film and series output to three and two projects, respectively. This year, “Deadpool & Wolverine” stands as the sole film release under Marvel.
During the presscon, Ryan was inevitably asked if he was feeling the burden, with the film seemingly suggesting it’s going to save Marvel.
“No pressure,” Ryan quipped. “Just a normal day at the office.”
Turning reflective, Ryan clarified it was never their intention to create such an impression.
“I mean, it’s from the earliest days (when) Shawn and I were writing this script in my apartment in New York City. I remember, you know, we wrote this sort of Marvel Jesus bit in the movie, which is really just more of a way to illustrate Deadpool’s own self-delusion,” he shared.
“It certainly wasn’t meant to be a commentary on the film industry, Marvel comic books, any of that stuff.
“But, yeah, Marvel hit a bit of a rougher patch, maybe more than normal. They required a little bit of a reset, and suddenly that storyline became ultra relevant, more externally than for us.
“It was almost like my wife, I remember Blake (Lively) said to me, like, did you somehow orchestrate it this way? Did you try to make it so that line was relevant? I was like, I’m not that smart, I promise.”
Ryan stressed that their goal is to simply entertain. “When we set out to make this film, we had a very specific North Star, and that was to deliver unbridled joy and audacity to audiences, to delight audiences all over the world.
“I personally have found — and I know it’s Hugh’s experience and Shawn’s experience — that the best and most powerful magic in all of storytelling in the modern day and age, particularly the last five to 10 years, has been joy. And that’s what we did here. That’s the only objective, was to create as much joy as humanly possible.”
That joy obviously emanated from them three coming together. “I think it reads on camera, because for us, it’s a dream come true for us all to work together. I mean, Hugh and I have been friends for 17 years. We’ve been through all kinds of ups and downs. We’ve been there for each other for something. Shawn and I, almost a decade. We genuinely love each other, and we cheer for each other,” Ryan noted.
“That’s why it translates to the screen, that kind of enthusiasm and joy, because you have these folks who are not competing with one another. Each one of us really wants to put the other ahead and put them in the best possible light.”
Ryan also teased that there are moments in the movie that somehow mirror real life. “There are a lot of moments in the movie where it’s hard to distinguish whether Deadpool is talking to Wolverine or is it Ryan talking to Hugh or Hugh talking to Ryan,” he said.
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