It is a long time coming, and it’s been four years since “Deadpool 2,” but the “Deadpool” franchise is finally starting to take shape. After being delayed and put in limbo following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, “Deadpool 3” finally has a director. THR reveals that the filmmaker will be Shawn Levy, who isn’t much of a surprise given his recent history. Levy releases “The Adam Project” starring “Deadpool” lead Ryan Reynolds today on Netflix, and his previous film is also the Reynolds-starring “Free Guy.”
Levy had been rumored and asked about potentially directing “Deadpool 3” months ago, and he admitted back then that there had been discussions with him, Reynolds, and Marvel. And man, if you’ve followed any of their interactions on social media or interviews, it’s clear that Levy and Reynolds are very simpatico and on the same page; very BFFs, and Reynolds has a lot of say and sway in this franchise. After two films in a row, it looks like their third will be “Deadpool 3,” though there is no official release date yet.
We could be seeing Deadpool characters sooner rather than later too. There are heavy, heavy rumors, repeated often and seemingly credible, that Deadpool and Domino (played by Zazie Beetz, who entered the franchise in “Deadpool 2”) will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe during the multiverse elements of “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.” None of that is official or confirmed, but trade reports a few months ago confirmed ‘Strange 2’ reshoots would accommodate a lot of big superstar cameos, and Patrick Stewart is already seemingly reprising his Professor X “X-Men” role in the movie, so it stands to reason that we could see a lot of big Marvel cameos and crossover.
There’s a change afoot in the writing too. Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, known for the animated series “Bob’s Burgers,” were announced as the original writers of “Deadpool 3” last year, which raised many eyebrows considering that Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were the originators of the “Deadpool” franchise. The duo wrote both previous installments and were instrumental in getting the franchise off the ground, writing draft after draft in the days when Fox was wavering on whether to make the original film or not.
Well, according to THR, Reese and Wernick are back on writing duties and seemingly working off the script Molyneux and Molyneux-Logelin initially penned and perhaps giving it their special sauce touch.
While there is no official “Deadpool 3” release date, it could be six years between films. Fall 2023 seems all but booked for “Blade,” meaning the next available window for a big Marvel tentpole, aka “Deadpool 3” would be winter 2024, which would work since the original “Deadpool” was released in February of 2016 and was a huge hit in that month.
The big question is whether “Deadpool” will remain R-Rated as Marvel and Disney do not, as a rule, release or make R-Rated films. While previous Disney CEO Bob Iger previously assured that “Deadpool” would remain R-Rated, that was literally four years ago, there’s new management in place, Iger is gone, and who knows what will happen. Either way, I’d put a huge bet that part of the delay in developing the movie is that very decision, trying to figure out how R-Rated works within the Marvel universe and or, trying to negotiate and navigate around it somehow. There’s always 20th Century Studios and Hulu for the R-Rated wing of Disney, but Marvel itself is heavily under the Disney brand, so it’ll be interesting to see where it all lands or what decisions they ultimately agree on.
Reynolds and Levy confirmed the news tonight.