Deadpool 2 is different from most superhero sequels in many ways -- and one example is runtime. While there are many big blockbusters that are happy to go over 135 minutes nowadays, the R-rated follow-up clocks in under two hours long -- largely thanks to its modest scale and tight narrative. As is, it's a great movie and ton of fun, but those of you wishing it could have been longer will soon get a special treat. I can confirm that a Deadpool 2 Extended Cut is currently in the works, courtesy of my recent interview with director David Leitch:
There's an extended cut. And I think that they may want to spin that out as a special thing, but right now I'm sort of... we're taking our time, and it's going back to the 'director cut,' and then sort of collaborating with Ryan [Reynolds], Rhett [Reese], and Paul [Wernick], and making sure we're all getting all the jokes we want - to have it be fun and our sort of fun collaboration.
I had the pleasure of sitting down with David Leitch last week during the Deadpool 2 junket in New York. We were discussing the longest assembled cut of the film, and it was as part of that discussion that he revealed the new edit that is currently in the works. And while it sounds like the precise distribution method has not yet been decided, at the very least it should get a Blu-ray release.
The "Director Cut" that David Leitch is referring to in the above quote is an early version of the film that the filmmaker put together shortly after production to show Ryan Reynolds and the other producers how everything was cutting together. Surprisingly, the assembly clocked in at only two hours and 12 minutes long -- the length you can expect for the Deadpool 2 Extended Cut -- which actually came as a total surprise to the film's star. Said Leitch,
It was funny, because we shot... it was like an 83 day shoot, and it was a lot of material. But I kept telling the studio, and I kept telling Ryan, I'm like, 'No, the director's cut going to come in at like 2:12.' And he's like, 'No way!' And I'm like, 'It is! It's going to come in at 2:12. I want to make it tight. I want you guys to get a really tight first look at the film. I don't think it needs to be bloated and I'm not that type of filmmaker.'
David Leitch described "nips and tucks" that were done that wound up cutting 12 minutes from the assembly -- but also offered a taste of some sequences that the Deadpool 2 Extended Cut will be bringing back for fans. For example, there will be a montage of the titular anti-hero trying a wide variety of suicide methods after being devastated by the death of Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). But that's not all, as the director says the alternate version of the film will use a lot of lines that were not included in the theatrical edition:
The suicide scene is in there, and there's a scene in the mansion in the kitchen over breakfast. There's some extra Domino stuff. There's a lot of fun little bits, and then a lot of alts! We're looking for every place we can put an alt.
My conversation with David Leitch then turned to a discussion about bringing the Juggernaut to life, but I was fortunately able to get the skinny on the extended X-Mansion scene from writers/producers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. For starters, there was a bit that has a payoff that's still included in the theatrical cut of Deadpool 2, and it's pretty disgusting:
Rhett Reese: We had a scene in the kitchen in the X Mansion, which is one of our favorites... You see Deadpool say 'ejaculated into a soap dispenser a hero,' and Colossus goes (smells fingers). There's an earlier scene where they're in the kitchen and Colossus is trying to get the soap dispenser to work. And he's like, 'This won't work.' And Deadpool's like, 'Just give it a few extra pumps. I just filled it.'Paul Wernick: It would have made that joke so much funnier.Rhett Reese: It would have been better. But it still works. People still get it because they see Colossus [sniff his fingers].Paul Wernick: I'm telling you, when we were coming up with that joke we were all in L.A. at Ryan's hotel where he was staying, and we were kicking around that joke, and my God we were laughing so hard. That's the sign that we're like, 'Okay, we just stumbled onto something.
Not everything about the sequence was as disgusting as ejaculating into a soap dispenser, however. Deadpool was actually going to start acting like a respectable member of the X-Men and start following Colossus' rules -- starting with labeling all of his own food:
Rhett Reese: The kitchen scene was fun. He's labeling stuff in the refrigerator as he was told to do. And so he's putting Velcro labels on, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead is not buying his go-straight routine. She's like, 'I see through you, you're still full of shit.' It was fun.Paul Wernick: It was just playing around with this idea that Deadpool is just this little kid. He's just a little kid at heart as we all are.
As alluded to earlier, the exact distribution and schedule details for this new version of Deadpool 2 are currently unknown. The film will surely have a home video release date in the early fall, and it's possible that the Extended Cut will be included. That being said, it doesn't sound like theatrical distribution is totally off the table, and there also exists the possibility that 20th Century Fox will give it its own special Blu-ray release (a la the Rogue Cut of X-Men: Days of Future Past). Time will tell.
For now, fans can enjoy the original cut of Deadpool 2, which is out in theaters everywhere -- and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more from my interviews with the cast and filmmakers behind the blockbuster!
