When Shawn Levy was offered the chance to direct Deadpool & Wolverine, he quickly signed on not just because he loved the character but because of a major regret.
“On the set of The Adam Project, Ryan asked me if I would consider doing Deadpool 3,” Levy told Empire. “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 f***ing say no, are you kidding? It’s a hard and immediate yes, sir!’”
For Levy, the opportunity to direct Deadpool & Wolverine allowed him to make up for turning down The Wolverine a decade prior. “When we were making Real Steel, Hugh was looking to do The Wolverine, and he asked me if I wanted to do it,” Levy said. “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.” James Mangold wound up taking the helm of The Wolverine and also returned to direct Logan, which was meant to serve as Jackman’s final appearance as the character.
Deadpool & Wolverine stars Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Shioli Kutsuna as Yukio, Stefan Kapičić as the voice of Colossus, and Rob Delaney as Peter. Deadpool 3 will also star Emma Corrin as the villain and Matthew Macfadyen as a TVA agent. Of course, the biggest addition to the Deadpool 3 cast is Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, who finally broke down after being pestered by Ryan Reynolds for so many years. The film is also expected to feature cameos from characters throughout the history of 20th Century Fox’s Marvel movies, with a few already being revealed in the trailer, including Aaron Stanford as Pyro.
Deadpool & Wolverine will hit theaters on July 26th, making it the only MCU movie to be released this year.