Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy have made an effective creative duo in recent years, first working together on Free Guy, then reuniting for The Adam Project. Their third collaboration is fittingly for a threequel, as Levy is directing Reynolds in Deadpool 3, While production on the upcoming Marvel movie is currently suspended due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, that didn’t prevent Reynolds from cheekily trolling the man helming Wade Wilson’s next cinematic adventure after he won an award.
The Toronto International Film Festival kicked off a few days ago, and during the event, Levy accepted its inaugural TIFF Tribute Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award during the TIFF Tribute Awards. Naturally the filmmaker was photographed holding his new honor, which TIFF shared on its Instagram page, and Reynolds used that as an opportunity to have some good fun with Levy on his own Instagram Stories:
Ah yes, up-and-comer Shawn Levy already impressing so early into his career. That lad has bright days ahead of him. Leave it to Reynolds to crack a joke about someone he’s close with from a place of good fun. After all, he and his wife Blake Lively frequently troll each other, and his ongoing “feud” with Hugh Jackman continues to be delightful all these years later. I’m skeptical about if Reynolds would have done this with a director he’d only just started working with, but he goes far enough back with Levy that for him not to have trolled the director would have been weirder.
Looking back to Deadpool 3, that movie also reunites Shawn Levy with Hugh Jackman, with the two having previously worked together on Real Steel. Naturally Jackman is reprising Wolverine, with this being his first time donning the adamantium claws since Logan, which was originally supposed to be his last time playing the character. Although Jackman and Ryan Reynolds previously co-starred in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the Wade Wilson the latter played there barely resembled the character from the comics, whereas Deadpool 3 is delivering a proper Deadpool/Wolverine team-up, complete with Wolverine wearing his classic yellow costume.
Other confirmed actors in the Deadpool 3 cast include Morena Baccarin, Brianna Hildebrand, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Stefan Kapičić, Shioli Kutsuna and Rob Delaney all reprising their respective roles, as well as newcomers Emma Corrin and Matthew Macfayden. Additionally, it’s been rumored that various other X-Men film characters will pop up in the threequel, and Jennifer Garner is even reportedly reprising Elektra Natchios. This makes it sound like Deadpool 3 will delve into the multiverse like fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe entries Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did, but with a specific focus on the 20th Century Fox-era Marvel movies.
In addition to his directorial duties, Shawn Levy also worked on Deadpool 3’s script with Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and Zeb Wells. So far the movie is still slated for May 3, 2024, but we’ll let you know if it’s delayed. And if you can’t get enough of Reynolds and Levy working together, these two also have Boy Band coming down the pipeline.
