Deadpool 3 Took Notes From A Monumental Star Wars Scene To Capture Blockbuster 'Essence'

The plot of Shawn Levy's upcoming superhero flick "Deadpool 3," starring Ryan Reynolds, involves the title hero getting his hands on the presumed-destroyed Infinity Stones and re-writing reality to his whim. He begins to pull in actors from parallel universes, including multiple versions of Wolverine, played by actors like Hugh Jackman, Elliot Page, Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, and Keanu Reeves. He also manifests characters from "Star Wars" and from DC Comics to form the superhero team required to destroy a vicious supervillain. The film's climax will feature all the Wolverines, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Batman, the Green Lantern, some dead Avengers (as zombies), and Ryan Reynolds (as himself) teaming up to take down Thanoseid (Josh Brolin), an amalgam of Thanos and Darkseid. 

Almost none of the above paragraph is remotely true, but hey, rumors have to start somewhere. What is known is that "Deadpool 3" is scheduled for release ... eventually, that Levy is directing, and that Reynolds is starring. And, yes, Jackman will also appear as Wolverine. Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the screenwriters of the first two "Deadpool" movies, will return and share their writing credits with Reynolds, Levy, and comic book author Zeb Wells. The plot is not yet known as of this writing. 

Also known, thanks to a recent article in Variety, is that Levy wanted to make "Deadpool 3" feel less like a snarky, self-aware, fourth-wall-breaking comedy film and more like an outsize blockbuster. It seems that Levy had recently attended a screening of Richard Marquand's 1983 film "Return of the Jedi" and was elated to find that audiences were still enthralled by a tense moment during the film's climax. He loved a brief span when the audience was silent, eagerly awaiting a fight. 

Levy wanted to recreate that. 

At the end of "Return of the Jedi," Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is taken to meet the evil Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) by his father Darth Vader (David Prowse). The Emperor implores Luke, equipped with Jedi mind powers, to join the Dark Side. His refusal leads to a fight between Luke and Darth Vader which ends in conflagration and death for two of the above-mentioned characters. Levy loved this entire sequence, and recounted some of its specific details, saying: 

"I vividly remember the scene in which Luke is hiding from Vader in the Emperor's room and Vader gives the speech that ends with, 'If you will not turn to the dark side, then perhaps your sister will.' [...] It was dead quiet. Pin-drop silence. Suddenly Vader has pushed the wrong button. Luke comes screaming out of the shadows and just goes to town in a lightsaber battle against Vader. The way that felt: The forty seconds of stillness from the audience, then the spectacle and emotion, is seared not just in my eyeballs but in my heart." 

Levy noted that little moments like that, those 40-second spans wherein the audience can't move, are actually what blockbuster entertainment is all about. The cheer moments might be all well and good, but Levy seems to prefer the edge-of-your-seat moments. He spoke about creating what he called "forever moments" in the audience's heads when a cinematic story moment becomes a striking and well-remembered piece of film history. 

Surely, all blockbuster filmmakers aim for moments like these, but Levy seemed particularly cognizant of his efforts to create such a moment. Hence, when it came time to shoot the climax for "Deadpool 3," Levy literally pulled up the "Jedi" moment on his phone to show to his crew members and photographers. 

Levy doesn't reveal what was happening in "Deadpool 3" that he felt a heavy quotation of that sequence from "Return of the Jedi" was appropriate, but his viewing of Marquand's film was clearly lingering in his brain. He didn't just want the mood, but the literal filmmaking. He studied the way the "Jedi" scenes were edited and emerged with something he felt would remain indelible. He wanted to assure audiences that this was not a straight-up "Star Wars" reference, but an attempt to capture "the essence of the blockbuster." Levy continued: 

"I'm now making 'Deadpool 3,' the production of which was paused because of the actors' strike [...] For one key scene in the movie, I said to my stunt and action team, 'Guys, this is the Jedi moment.' I pulled up that scene of Vader and Luke on my phone and restudied how it was photographed, how it was blocked, the framing, the tempo. The keen 'Star Wars' fan will see the shot in my 'Deadpool' movie that was inspired by a moment that I saw in a theater decades ago. That's a forever memory. And that's a treasure."

Shawn Levy, after completing "Deadpool 3," is scheduled to work on a "Star Wars" feature film of his own, so it seems all his dreams are coming true. Levy has previously directed sci-fi films like "Real Steel" and "Free Guy," as well as Hollywood comedies like "The Pink Panther," "Date Night," and the "Night at the Museum" films. Levy is nothing if not an efficient showbiz journeyman, capable of handling mildly diverting and often popular A-grade studio fare. Audiences will have to wait to see if "Deadpool 3" and "Star Wars" are also in his wheelhouse.