Deadpool, Bambi crossover pitched to Disney by Reynolds

Last Updated on August 10, 2021

Before Ryan Reynolds joined forces with Taika Waititi to film a hilarious Deadpool and Korg promo for Free Guy, the actor pitched a disturbing short film to Disney that had the Merc With a Mouth interrogating the hunter from Bambi. At first, it sounds like Deadpool would confront the hunter and give him the gift of a few more holes in his head, but it's not like that at all. In a recent interview with IGN, Reynolds revealed that the plot would find Deadpool admiring the hunter's dark work.

"I wanted to do a short film of Deadpool interrogating the hunter who killed Bambi's mom," Reynolds explained to IGN. "But the whole gist of it is that Deadpool is actually just a huge fan. He's not interrogating — he just wants to know how he could be the most loathed Disney character in the history of Disney… and of course, Disney was like, 'well, I don't think that's ever going to happen.'"

After Reynolds's idea for the short film was rejected, he pitched the Deadpool and Korg crossover to them instead. Obviously, Disney was keen on the idea and gave Reynolds their blessing to make it happen. Technically, the superhero-heavy Free Guy promo is Deadpool's first MCU crossover, which is pretty cool in and of itself.

"Then we came back to them — we wrote the Deadpool-Korg piece… and we sent it to them, and they said, 'yes!'," said Reynolds. "So, my next call was to Taika and Taika was in. He's also in Free Guy so it wasn't that hard… Taika's an actual genius so I was thrilled to collaborate with him as this kind of character."

Free Guy, starring both Ryan Reynolds and Taika Waititi, opens in theaters on August 13, 2021. Reviews for the film are currently making the rounds, with several critics calling it one of the best action films of the year so far. Be sure to check out Chris Bumbray's review here, in which he describes the film as familiar but also plenty of fun.