Deadpool & Wolverine was a $1.3 billion record-breaking hit when it opened in theaters last summer. With so much talk of "superhero fatigue," it was exactly what Marvel Studios needed at the time.
However, its success compared to this year's efforts proves that moviegoers now need comic book movies to be an event if they're going to show up in full force.
During a recent interview with Kevin McCarthy (via The Playlist), filmmaker Shawn Levy was asked about a possible follow-up to the Deadpool threequel, and it sounds like a possible fourth outing for the Merc with a Mouth has indeed been on his mind.
"I’m a fan of a lot of threes in the trilogies of movies," he explained. "I love 'Back to the Future 3.' I love 'Return of the King.' ['Endgame' was] such a superior audience experience," Levy added, because "that took 10 years and how many movies to earn that [Falcon and Captain America callback] 'On your left,' and to Fox to Marvel."
"When you are telling a story that has the benefit of [a] legacy connection between the audience and the characters, you’re sort of like on second base already."
Levy continued, "When I look at 'Deadpool & Wolverine,' that became a love letter to that [20th Century Fox] legacy. We were also able to tap into years of legacy storytelling." The Star Wars: Starfighter helmer went on to confirm that he's giving a lot of thought to how he could make another Deadpool movie, minus the nostalgia factor.
"I don’t know about rule of threes, 'cause the truth is, as I contemplate, for instance, 'Okay, how do we make another Deadpool movie?'" he confirmed. "Sequels are hard. They are dauntingly hard. I made three 'Night at the Museum' movies. It kicked my ass every time. And so, yeah, having seen how the sausage of sequels is made, I find the whole subject a little stressful because you want to get it right."
The trades have reported that Ryan Reynolds is mulling over a new Deadpool movie that would feature Wade Wilson as part of the ensemble. The expectation is that it will be X-Force, albeit in the post-Avengers: Secret Wars MCU (meaning Deadpool would share the screen with the next generation of mutants).
Speaking of the upcoming Avengers movies, Reynolds and his Deadpool & Wolverine co-stars, Hugh Jackman, are expected to reprise their roles in next December's Avengers: Doomsday.
Given the success they've found together, we'd bet on Reynolds and Levy reuniting for the mystery project. It's clearly still early days, but the fact that the latter is at least contemplating where to take Deadpool next bodes well.