Disney/Marvel Studios clearly gave Deadpool and Wolverine director Shawn Levy and star Ryan Reynolds a lot of leeway when it came to the more risqué material they were able to include in the movie, but there was one joke that evidently went a little too far for a certain studio higher-up.
Back in August, Reynolds revealed that he was asked to take out one particular gag - though he refused to disclose the line at the time, and vowed never to do so.
“There was a note about this one line, and I’ll say this, which is that I was asked to take the line out. I was not even mandated to take the line out. To quote someone in a very high position of leadership at Disney, ‘I’m in for a penny, I’m in for a pound. And if you take it out, I’d love it. If you don’t, I will still love and support you, this movie and all the hard work that went into it.’ So, come on. At that point you go, ‘Do I want to stick with pride? Do I care? Am I going to die on a hill over one joke?’ Look, the answer is of course I’m going to die on a hill over one joke, but then you sober up a few weeks later.”
“Many weeks later," Levy interjected. "My buddy Ryan is one stubborn son of a bitch. It took weeks for the ground to soften, and we’re going to take that joke to the grave.”
Reynolds then revealed that the Pinocchio joke was added as a replacement.
“The intelligence and merit of the joke is certainly debatable, but it’s the Pinocchio joke. You know? ‘I got Pinocchio jammed in my ass, and he’s lying like crazy’ … That replaced what was there before, and I’m not losing any sleep over it… When they ask that one thing, and they’ve just been partners at that level, which is rare in this business and people who put their faith and trust in us to not only make a movie responsibly and finish on time and on budget and get a day and a half of reshoots - which we’re both super proud of. For any movie that’s extraordinary, but particularly a comic book movie, you got to take that stuff to heart, and you got to be a good partner. And we want to be good partners always.”
Now, thanks to some pages from the movie's script that have been shared online, we know what the original joke was: “F*CK! What, we can't even afford one more X-Man? Disney is so cheap. I can barely breathe with all this Mickey Mouse c*ck in my throat.”
There you have it. Vulgar, if nothing too offensive - although it's easy enough to understand why Bob Ig... ehh, the person as Disney wasn't exactly crazy about it being included.
The MPAA gave the movie an official R-rating for: "Strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore, and sexual references."
“Marvel Studios presents their most significant mistake to date - Deadpool & Wolverine," reads the new synopsis. "A listless Wade Wilson toils away in civilian life. His days as the morally flexible mercenary, Deadpool, behind him. When his homeworld faces an existential threat, Wade must reluctantly suit-up again with an even more reluctantlier... reluctanter? Reluctantest? He must convince a reluctant Wolverine to - F*ck. Synopses are so f*cking stupid.”
In addition to Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in the title roles, Deadpool and Wolverine will see Morena Baccarin (Vanessa), Leslie Uggams (Blind Al), Rob Delaney (Peter), Brianna Hildebrand (Negasonic Teenage Warhead) And Shioli Kutsuna (Yukio) return as their respective characters, and they'll be joined by franchise newcomers Emma Corrin (The Crown) and Matthew Macfadyen (Succession), who will play a TV agent and Charles Xavier's evil counterpart, Cassandra Nova.
Shawn Levy directs Deadpool and Wolverine from a script by Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Zeb Wells.