How A Phone Call From Hugh Jackman Saved Deadpool 3 From Oblivion

Everybody has their kinks and all, but there's just something different about "Deadpool" movies and the way they keep flirting with never actually seeing the light of day. The original 2016 film notoriously came this close to remaining a hypothetical as a fun concept that simply couldn't get over the finish line, until some test footage mysteriously leaked and stirred up enough public interest to convince what was then 20th Century Fox to officially greenlight the picture. (For a fun blast from the past, you can check out /Film's original coverage of those events here.) As much as the first movie felt like a true underdog story, however, we're now finding out that this year's "Deadpool & Wolverine" went through a very similar predicament. The Merc with the Mouth's latest savior wasn't the unknown party who broke every rule in the book back in 2015 to show the fans what they were missing out on — okay, enough beating around the bush, since we all know the culprit was almost certainly Ryan Reynolds himself. This time, though, it was his pointy-clawed co-star, Hugh Jackman.

That's the big news of the day, following an extensive Vanity Fair profile with the main trio of artists responsible for turning "Deadpool & Wolverine" into what it's become: Reynolds, Jackman, and director Shawn Levy. The trouble started as early as Disney's acquisition of rival studio Fox, which allowed the House of Mouse to fully integrate the "X-Men" franchise into its ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe. But after debuting "Deadpool" and "Deadpool 2" to great success over the years, Reynolds struggled with cracking the main story for the threequel. It wasn't until a fortuitous phone call from Jackman — on the eve of an important pitch meeting with Kevin Feige, no less — that things rounded into form.

Get yourself a creative partner with as much influence as Hugh Jackman. Other than Tom Cruise singlehandedly turning Christopher McQuarrie into his personal director of choice, both on the recent "Mission: Impossible" sequels and outside of the franchise machine, it's difficult to imagine many other figures in Hollywood who have the ability to make movies happen with a single phone call. After Reynolds brought Shawn Levy on board "Deadpool & Wolverine" (yet another example of an A-list actor pulling double duty as an industry mover and shaker), the director explained just how hard a time they were having on the third film:

"We frankly struggled to find a story that felt original and non-derivative of the other two 'Deadpool' movies. It had to be deserving of the first 'Deadpool' entry into the MCU, but also feel grounded because this is an earthbound, gritty, realistic superhero franchise. We had fits and starts. And Ryan and I were right at the edge of saying to Kevin, 'You know what? Maybe now is not the right moment because we're not coming up with a story.' And that is the moment when Ryan's phone rang and it was Hugh calling from his car."

From Jackman's perspective, a rare vacation gave him the clarity of mind to ask himself a very important question. "I was sitting on a beach, not a care in the world, and for some reason, the thought came into my head: 'What do you want to do?' ... Then, literally, I thought: Deadpool-Wolverine. I want to do that movie. That's what I want." His instincts told him not to waste a single moment ringing up Reynolds, which proved prescient — Reynolds recalled a Zoom meeting with Kevin Feige scheduled for later that very day.

Movies oftentimes go from the page to the screen through talent, hard work, and the right connections. But on many occasions, time (and luck) is just simply on your side. Later on in the Vanity Fair interview, Jackman reminisced about how the call that changed the entire trajectory of "Deadpool & Wolverine" ultimately went down:

"I rang straight away, because for some reason I'm like, I can't wait 20 minutes. Normally, 20 minutes isn't going to matter, but weirdly, it sort of did. I said, 'I want to do this movie. I know it in my bones. I know it in my gut.' And Ryan said, 'I can't believe the timing because we were about to have a meeting and I'm not sure where we're at.'"

From there, it's easy to imagine the dollar signs cartoonishly popping up in the eyes of everyone in that meeting and the production enjoying nothing but smooth sailing from that point onwards. But one fly in the ointment gave some fans some cause for concern: the notion of undoing Wolverine's perfect sendoff in James Mangold's "Logan," which even Kevin Feige admitted he cautioned Jackman against. But the actor isn't sweating it one bit, especially since the creative team took pains to make this work without breaking established canon. As for Jackman, he sounds fully at peace:

"Everything felt new and fresh to me. And I'd be sharing it with Ryan and Shawn, who are two of my best friends. The three of us together are like the Three Amigos. There was not a day where I wasn't in tears laughing. I felt so rejuvenated playing the part. I mean, I'm 25 years in, man, and it feels better than ever."

"Deadpool & Wolverine" premieres July 26, 2024.