Ryan Reynolds' Wade Wilson is making his way back onto the big screen in the near future (this time as part of the Marvel Cinematic Univese) with Deadpool 3. The long-in-development film already has several important pieces in place: a director in The Adam Project's Shawn Levy and writers in Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.
Despite those elements, however, the Merc with a Mouth's third adventure has not had a release-date announcement, even after Marvel Studios' SDCC 2022 presentation. Fortunately, a new piece of information may hint at the film being close to entering production.
Trainer Don Saladino — who worked with Ryan Reynolds for Deadpool and Deadpool 2, and also trained the likes of Sebastian Stan and Scarlett Johansson — took to Instagram to share a picture of himself training Reynolds for Deadpool 3.
In the caption, Saladino stated, "and so it begins..." The trainer included a red-dot and swords emoji, confirming that his collaboration with the actor was related to Wade Wilson.
Speaking with Esquire in 2021, the trainer discussed Reynold's mentality when it came to fitness: "I've been working with Ryan for over a decade. [...] Every movie he got ready for, I prepped him for. He's an incredible human being. He's very talented, athletic and humble. I can't take full credit because he has such a drive."
He further explained that the actor strove to improve his physique with every action role he took on: "Ryan has just turned 44 and I think his physique and structure now might be the best I've ever [seen]. [...] In Deadpool, he outdid Green Lantern. In Deadpool 2, he outdid Deadpool."
Reynolds' prep doesn't only show that the wheels are once again turning for the Merc with a Mouth's new adventure, but it may also provide an idea of when the film will start shooting. For context, in 2017, Saladino posted a video of himself training the actor in preparation for Deadpool 2:
The post was shared in June 2017, and filming for Deadpool 2 kicked off that same month. The clip was likely not captured right before production began, though going by the timing of its posting, it's reasonable to assume it was from around that time. The sequel would ultimately be released less than a year later, in May 2018.
It's hard to tell how long Reynolds' latest physical preparation for the character will last, but considering his training timeframe for Deadpool 2, it could be argued that there's a possibility for Deadpool 3 to begin filming as early as this year. That is, of course, speculation, but Reynolds' training efforts do seem to point at him suiting up as the foul-mouthed antihero sooner rather than later.
During SDCC, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige teased that more projects would be revealed at a later date (via CBR.com): "There's so much more to discuss and so much more to unveil, and we didn't want to talk about everything today."
With D23 coming in September 2022, audiences could be getting a better idea of when to expect Wade Wilson's return relatively soon.