‘The Adam Project’s Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds to Reunite for ‘Deadpool 3’
The Merc with a Mouth will be back with a friend behind the camera. MCU ahoy!
Ryan Reynolds in 20th Century Fox's 'Deadpool.'
In what is a development of monumental synchronicity, just as director/producer Shawn Levy and star Ryan Reynolds’ latest movie, ‘The Adam Project’ drops on Netflix, news arrives that Levy will direct ‘Deadpool 3.’
The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Levy is now in negotiations to handle the third movie featuring Reynolds’ quippy, violent “Merc with a Mouth”, the popular X-Men character whose previous movies earned $783.1 million and $785.8 million respectively worldwide.
Little is known about what the story will be beyond what we can predict from those other movies: expect plenty of meta jokes (Deadpool has always broken the fourth wall in comics), insults hurled at Hugh Jackman/Wolverine and plenty of ass-kicking action.
We’ve known for a while that ‘Bob’s Burgers’ writing duo Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin are working on the screenplay, with Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, who scripted the first two movies, now also back for this one. And we’re sure that Reynolds himself will have plenty of input.
This will mark the third collaboration between Levy and Reynolds after the successful ‘Free Guy’ last year and the charming ‘Adam Project’. The two have clearly struck up a rapport that has powered creative, entertaining work and we are honestly excited to see where they take Deadpool. Levy as a director in particular is better known for family-orientated material, but we’re sure he can let loose with the vulgar madness and bullet-flinging that ‘Deadpool’ demands.
(L to R) Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy at a Netflix event. Photo by Noam Galai.
The ‘Deadpool’ movies adapt the character first created in comics form by in 1991 by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza. He’s become a huge fan favorite, and there has been massive interest in seeing what he might do given free rein to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Yet there has also been some vocal concern that, since Disney bought the rights to the Deadpool character as part of its purchase of 20th Century Fox, there might not be a place for the R-Rated character in the relatively family-friendly world of the MCU, which pushes the boundaries of PG-13 but doesn’t go beyond that.
But former Disney CEO Bob Iger has assured fans that the more adult world of ‘Deadpool’ can co-exist, and there is more evidence given the planned addition of extra parental controls to Disney+, ahead of the arrival of the former Netflix Marvel shows such as ‘Daredevil’ and ‘Jessica Jones’.
Not that Disney or Marvel would risk sending Reynolds’ Wade Wilson straight to the streaming service: knowing the anticipation for the latest ‘Deadpool’ outing, this is expected to be firmly headed for the big screen.
Reynolds made a typically funny announcement about the project on twitter himself…
No release date has been announced yet, since this is still at a relatively early stage. But even with Levy in particular’s packed schedule, we’d be shocked if cameras weren’t rolling before the year is out.
‘The Adam Project’, meanwhile, is on Netflix now.
