When our first look at Deadpool & Wolverine was released last July (it's close to a year to the day), jaws were left on the floor with the reveal that Hugh Jackman's Logan would don his comic-accurate yellow costume.
The closest we'd ever come to that was a deleted scene from The Wolverine which teased the idea of the clawed mutant one day suiting up. Unfortunately, by the time X-Men: Days of Future Past rolled around a year later, Logan was back in black leather.
Jackman has said he was keen to finally suit up in Deadpool & Wolverine, but it turns out that it wasn't his idea. In fact, it wasn't Ryan Reynolds' or filmmaker Shawn Levy's either; instead, it was down to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige.
"He said, 'Yes, but he wears the yellow. Can he finally wear the yellow?'" Levy told fans in Shanghai, China at a recent fan event when asked about Feige's reaction to adding Wolverine to the Deadpool threequel. "And we began."
We really shouldn't be surprised that this was Feige's doing and, based on what we've seen of Jackman in the costume, it was the right decision.
In a separate interview, Levy was asked about his friendship with Reynolds (before Deadpool & Wolverine, they collaborated on The Adam Project and Free Guy).
"I wonder if we benefited from meeting at a stage of life where we'd all proven we deserve to be at the party," he wondered. "No one met in their early 20s where we're all just scrapping it out for a seat at the table. We met with seats at the table in our 30s, in our 40s. I think there was a confidence each of us brought to these relationships."
Levy also acknowledged that the anticipation "creates spoiler anxiety" that keeps him up at night. "But it also keeps me rigorously focused on the highest standards for this movie, because it brings the highest expectations," he adds.
"With a movie like this, where people seem to be letting us know they intend to show up, I want to make sure that we build the most joyous, rollicking good time in the theaters that we possibly could."
Stay tuned for more on Deadpool & Wolverine as we have it.
Shawn Levy directs Deadpool & Wolverine, which stars Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, and Matthew Macfadyen. The movie is written by Ryan Reynolds & Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick & Zeb Wells & Shawn Levy.
The trades have confirmed that Jennifer Garner will reprise her role as Elektra, with Wesley Snipes, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Dafne Keen, Channing Tatum, Blake Lively, singer Taylor Swift, and even a Hulk now among those rumoured to make an appearance.
Kevin Feige, Reynolds, Levy and Lauren Shuler Donner produce with Louis D’Esposito, Wendy Jacobson, Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, George Dewey, Simon Kinberg and Jonathon Komack Martin serving as executive producers.
Deadpool & Wolverine arrives in theaters on July 26.