Chris Evans spent the better part of a decade playing the MCU's Captain America before bidding farewell to the role in 2019's Avengers: Endgame. We thought that might be it for the actor, but he returned in Deadpool & Wolverine...as the Human Torch!
That was Evans' first superhero role way back in 2005's Fantastic Four and, for director Shawn Levy, his foul-mouthed tirade in the threequel's post-credits scene was something he knew he wanted from the start.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly about "that super dirty monologue," Levy said Ryan Reynolds "wrote [it] in literally about nine minutes" and explained, "Unlike a lot of movies, we knew what would be our final end-credits button for over a year. It was always going to be that, and it was non-negotiable."
He added. "We expected that Chris might need a bunch of takes because that was a page of super dirty, mile-a-minute language. Chris came in, was off book, banged it out in two takes, had us pissing with laughter, and that's what you see in the movie. I think Chris had a blast, and I know our movie benefits from Chris playing Johnny very differently from Cap. Gone is the righteous nobility and cleanliness of Captain America."
"This is a Boston-inflected, Chris Evans-inspired Johnny Storm. I feel like it's more Chris than the original Chris Evans. Chris is a Boston boy," the filmmaker continued. "I'd have to go back and watch the original Fantastic Four, but I don't think he played Johnny as the Boston boy that he did in Deadpool & Wolverine — and to me it is perfection."
Levy also confirmed that "there was a Vinnie Jones conversation that didn't really go very far" regarding The Juggernaut but, beyond that, he and Reynolds secured all the cameos they wanted. However, there was one they had to close the door on.
"If Walker Scobell had stopped evolving right before puberty, he absolutely would've been Kidpool," the director revealed. "It was his dream. Ryan and I reached out to him once we realized he was now going to be too old, both too tall and with his voice too low. Puberty is what it is, and all the Hollywood dreams in the world can't stop it."
"So we did call Walker and explain why he couldn't be Kidpool, and he was completely understanding. My long reunion hug with Walker at the premiere in New York was one of my favorite parts of that whole night."
In place of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians star as Kidpool was Reynolds and Blake Lively's 7-year-old daughter, Inez. Levy and Reynolds had previously worked with Scobell on Netflix's The Adam Project.
Deadpool & Wolverine is now playing in theaters.