Ryan Reynolds almost gave up everything to bring Deadpool into fruition.

With all the fan theories and rumors surrounding the project, Deadpool & Wolverine is one of the most-anticipated projects in MCU history. The Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman starrer is expected to break the recent streak of disappointing Marvel ventures. Despite the popularity of Merc With A Mouth, hardly anybody had thought that Reynolds’ mutant may play a significant role in bringing back the glorious MCU days.

The previous two Deadpool installments had been some of the highest-grossing R-rated films. But, interestingly, the studio was initially not very keen to start the film series. At one point, Ryan Reynolds even had to sacrifice his salary for the 2016 movie.

Ryan Reynolds in a still from Deadpool | 20th Century Fox

One of the primary highlights of Deadpool & Wolverine‘s teaser was when Reynolds’ mutant called himself “Marvel Jesus”. After the recent interview, it can be undoubtedly stated that everything he did to make the character so iconic proves that the dialogue is more than a mere in-universe joke.

Ryan Reynolds did everything he could to make Deadpool 

Recently when Ryan Reynolds sat for an interview with The New York Times, he shared that 2016’s Deadpool went through an arduous production. The Free Guy actor admitted that he was trying to make a solo movie on the character from 2004.

Interestingly, we got the first appearance of Reynolds’ Wade Wilson in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but it is worth noting that the portrayal was too horrendous to be remembered. Going forward, when Ryan Reynolds finally got to work on the 2016 film, the budget and time was insanely limited. He admitted that the situation was so bad, he had to sacrifice his salary to accommodate the two writers on set.

Ryan Reynolds in a still from Deadpool | 20th Century Fox

The Deadpool writers Rett Reese and Paul Wernick stated in an interview in 2016 that when 20th Century Fox did not pay for them to be on set, Ryan Reynolds paid out his own money. The 47-year-old recalled during his latest interview that at that time, he cared about nothing but the film. As a result, he also sacrificed his salary to form the writers’ room.

No part of me was thinking when ‘Deadpool’ was finally greenlit that this would be a success. I even let go of getting paid to do the movie just to put it back on the screen: They wouldn’t allow my co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set, so I took the little salary I had left and paid them to be on set with me so we could form a de facto writers room.

Nevertheless, Reynolds explained that it was an inspiring process throughout. All the challenges helped them to think more creatively and do something more unique with the Tim Miller directorial- “I think one of the great enemies of creativity is too much time and money, and that movie had neither time nor money.”

Despite having its R-rated gorefest spectacle, the Deadpool film series also excelled with its brilliant characters and entertaining meta-screenplay. According to Ryan Reynolds, due to the limited budget, they had to take an unconventional route and focus more on the character than the spectacle.

All the decisions taken for the movie turned out to be extremely fruitful as even after being an R-rated superhero flick, it earned a mammoth $782 million (via Box Office Mojo).

Ryan Reynolds implemented his lessons from Deadpool (2016) in the threequel

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool & Wolverine | Marvel Studios

After Ryan Reynolds made R-rated superhero action mainstream with Deadpool, its sequel also became a massive blockbuster. The character’s humor and style became a major pop culture phenomenon and significantly contributed to the hype for the threequel.

The upcoming Deadpool 3‘s story is far from being grounded with all the multiversal adventure involved. Unlike the existing 20th Century Fox, Marvel Studios also spends a lot in backing these projects. However, the 6 Underground actor stated that the 2016 film taught him that creativity only flourishes when we have to complete things with limited resources. As a result, he did not want to take even an extra penny than what was needed.

Necessity is the mother of invention. The more constraints you place on a creative process, the more you think outside of the box. So, personally, I didn’t want more money than we needed. We wanted just enough money to make what we set out to make, but also find ways to creatively pivot.

Director Shawn Levy also agreed with Reynolds’ statement. It can be undoubtedly stated that with the massive hype, Deadpool & Wolverine will be a wonder at the box office no matter how much the budget is. If it can match the expectations, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman may also give us the MCU’s all-time highest numbers.

Deadpool & Wolverine will be released on July 26, 2024.