Deadpool & Wolverine stars and director Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Shawn Levy discuss the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. The Multiverse Saga is about to have one of its biggest releases of all time with Deadpool & Wolverine, featuring Reynolds and Jackman as the titular Marvel icons. This will be their first film under Marvel Studios, following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, which brought the X-Men rights back to Kevin Feige and his team.

The highly anticipated movie follows Deadpool and Wolverine as they tackle the multiverse, as Wade Wilson gets approached by the Time Variance Authority. As the multiverse is at stake, Deadpool joins forces with an alternative Wolverine, following Jackman’s main version having died at the end of Logan. Deadpool & Wolverine also serves as a semi-finale to 20th Century Fox’s X-Men universe.

Screen Rant interviewed Deadpool and Wolverine themselves, as well as their director. Reynolds, Jackman, and Levy opened up about taking on the Deadpool threequel, breaking down the responsibility of landing an R-rating under Marvel Studios. Jackman also reflected on getting to tap into a new side of Wolverine that he hadn’t been able to do in his past films, and the trio looked ahead to potential opportunities after the release of Deadpool & Wolverine.

Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman & Shawn Levy Preview Deadpool & Wolverine

Ryan, we’re going to get tons of variants in this movie, which I’m excited about, but what variant have we not seen in the comics that you’d like to create and what would their power be?

Ryan Reynolds: Oh wow., that’s a good question. I don’t know. That’s a tricky one. Because I feel like I’m going to walk myself into a horrible spoiler.

Shawn Levy: We’re so close to this movie coming out, there’s so many surprises that the world doesn’t see coming. We don’t want to blow it.

Unlock A New Potential With Wolverine

Hugh, considering you’ve played this role for a long time, were you able to unlock anything in this portrayal of Wolverine that you hadn’t before?

Hugh Jackman: Dude, I’m so glad you mentioned it, and yes, because of these guys. I actually said very early on, I said, ‘This is something that I’ve been trying to crack. I haven’t been able to. It’s been bothering me for 24 years, and I pitched it in different variant.’ We just couldn’t get there, whether it was me and these guys wrote something that unlocked it for me, and there’s so much in the writing that they did for me. I mean, to see Wolverine with Deadpool is a whole different tone, but I’m so grateful for that. I feel such a relief, and I’m so glad you asked me the question. So yes is the answer, and I can’t wait for you guys to discover it.

The MCU Vs. The R-Rating

Following up on that, Shawn and Ryan, this movie goes hard in terms of poking fun at the MCU. It also delivers a lot of emotion, can you talk about finding the right balance and not just relying on the R-rated jokes for this film?

Shawn Levy: We were our own disciplinarians. We knew that anything was on the table because of the rating, but we never exploited the rating just because we could. So we focused on, ‘Okay, what’s the North Star? It’s Wade and Logan. It’s these characters on this adventure together.’ Any character, any Easter egg, any joke, any R-rating element, if it didn’t service that character-anchored story, we resisted it.

Ryan Reynolds: It felt like we really had an opportunity to not blow it. [laughs] I think you can give into your lower impulses and be indulgent with some of that stuff or you can say, ‘Look, let’s make sure that this gets to be in our rating for a reason. Make sure that everything that we do, we earn up on the screen and we’re not just exploiting it just for the sake of it.’ I think was in some ways a way that both Marvel and Disney really put their shoulder behind us and gave us as much license as you want because, boy, we do stuff that is nuts in this film and stuff that, frankly, I’m shocked they allowed us to do. But at the same time, Kevin Feige describes the movie as the most wholesome R-rated film ever made and to me that really does kind of sum it up, that’s the highest phrase we could get.

Dream MCU Interactions In Avengers: Secret Wars

Last question I have for you guys is that this has been a long time coming. We’ve wanted this team up forever. Now that we finally have it though, looking forward into the future, which MCU character would you like to see your character team up with in Avengers: Secret Wars, if that’s on the table?

Ryan Reynolds: I have one – he couldn’t do it, one of the first people that were offered a role we were trying to work with desperately was Jordan Peele. But we are such enormous fans of his, everything he does, I think he’s just one of the great underrated performers as well. Obviously, he’s busy building a gigantic empire as a director and creator, but he’s somebody that I still, to this day, would love to find some way to team up with. I don’t even care what he would play, but I would love to work with him.

Hugh Jackman: I don’t know how we do it, but because this is where he first appeared, I always thought Hulk, and I’m terrified of how that will feel as the actor, I’d just get flown around.

Ryan Reynolds: I would love, no disrespect to Ruffalo, I’d love to play Hulk. It sounds like a pretty good gig.

Shawn Levy: And you are technically available now that we’re done with this movie!

About Deadpool & Wolverine

Marvel Studios presents their most significant mistake to date—”Deadpool & Wolverine.” A listless Wade Wilson toils away in civilian life. His days as the morally flexible mercenary, Deadpool, behind him. When his homeworld faces an existential threat, Wade must reluctantly suit-up again with an even more reluctantlier… reluctanter? Reluctantest? He must convince a reluctant Wolverine to—F–k. Synopses are so f—–g stupid.

Check back soon for our other Deadpool & Wolverine interviews:

Emma Corrin (Cassandra Nova) & Matthew Macfadyen (Paradox)
Wendy Jacobson (Producer)
Kevin Feige (Marvel Studios President)

Deadpool & Wolverine opens in theaters this Friday, July 26.