After 9 minutes of Deadpool & Wolverine footage was shown to CinemaCon attendees last week, excitement for a new trailer is more palpable than ever. We expect it to be attached to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, meaning it should be online in the next week or two.
The movie once known as Deadpool 3 has changed a great deal since it was first given the green light at 20th Century Fox. The hope had always been to enlist Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, though that threequel was going to be a simple road trip, not a journey through the Multiverse.
Talking to Collider, Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy made it clear that, while this is a follow-up to the first two Deadpool movies, it's also very much its own thing.
"Well, the truth is, I think your answer is in the question, which is if you make the kinds of movies I make, you are listening to the audience," the filmmaker explained. "I'm not making small films for my own satisfaction in a room alone, I'm making it to connect to the biggest audience possible. We have had some early screenings that were extremely, extremely promising."
"I wouldn’t say that there were any big surprises, but you feel where the pace wants to tighten, you feel where you can afford to slow down and have a deeper, more durable character moment," Levy added. "And at the end of the day, as I think we've said, it's very much a Deadpool movie, but this is not Deadpool 3. This is Deadpool & Wolverine, and it is singular because of that."
It's interesting that test screenings have taken place and surprising no spoilers from those have leaked online. For a movie like this, Marvel Studios may have chosen to keep them in-house at Disney rather than enlisting members of the public who could head straight to Reddit.
In a separate interview with Screen Rant, Levy reiterated that point about the threequel belonging to Deadpool and Wolverine in equal measure.
"As far as crafting the Deadpool and Wolverine story, I just felt privileged every day because you're talking about two massive movie stars in their most iconic roles," he said. "It also gave me an opportunity. It's the third Deadpool movie, but it's not Deadpool 3. It's a different thing that's very much Deadpool and Wolverine."
"And it's not trying to copycat anything from the first two movies. They were awesome, but this is a two-hander character adventure."
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 and, as we mentioned above, even singer Taylor Swift 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.