Deadpool & Wolverine's Like A Prayer Fight Sequence Originally Featured Something Horrifying

Needle-drop music cues have been a hallmark of the "Deadpool" franchise stretching back to the opening credits of the first film, which kicks off with an amusingly chaotic freeze-frame action sequence set to Juice Newton's cover of "Angel of the Morning." This was a strong statement of irreverent purpose, and a signal to the audience that the artists behind this big-screen take on Marvel Comics' had a mile-wide sentimental streak.

The one constant through all three films has been the trio of star Ryan Reynolds and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. After the travestying of the Merc with a Mouth in 20th Century Fox's botched "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," these gentlemen have worked overtime to deliver a version of Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza's character that respects the fans who keep this superhero movie train chugging. And while you may love these films for their gleefully profane humor or, when Tim Miller or David Lietch were at the helm, cleanly choreographed and executed action, the highlight for me tends to be their inventive use of pop music that has no business scoring hyper-violent set pieces.

This kind of counterintuitive needle-dropping is nothing new. From Billy Batts getting the crap kicked out of him to Donovan's mystic rocker "Aquarius" in "Goodfellas" to John Woo's hauntingly ethereal "Over the Rainbow" shootout in "Face/Off," movie fans have had their pop sensitivities rocked many times over. But staging a full-scale massacre to Madonna's gospel-tinged "Like a Prayer," especially when we already have that unforgettable music video directed by Mary Lambert, is a bold move. How did it come about? According to Reese and Wernick, it was all Reynolds. And if he'd had his way early on, it would've been a horror-fuelled sequence worthy of George A. Romero.

In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Reese and Wernick revealed that Reynolds was hellbent on using Madonna's 1989 chart-topper to score a oner of Deadpool "slicing up bad guys" long before they knew Wolverine was added to the mix. And those bad guys were from the rotting ranks of the undead. According to Wernick:

"Before it was Deadpool Corps, it was zombies. When Ryan jumped on the phone with us, I think it was November of 2021, and said, 'Hey, you guys want to come back and do a Deadpool movie? Here are some of my thoughts.' He pitched this idea of Deadpool versus Zombies, and he pitched this final scene, the climax of the movie being Deadpool, going down the line and to Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' and wantonly killing zombies. And we were like, 'Oh, that's f***ing badass. That's cool.' It ultimately evolved into the Deadpool Corps as we went along."

Reese adds that Reynolds' initial vision had Deadpool fighting his way out of Hell, which sounds like a far more indelible idea than the character going "Oldboy" on the old 20th Century Fox backlot. Had they worked with a more skilled director than longtime studio plugger Shawn Levy, they might've pulled together a sequence that timed out to the actual song instead of hacking it up to fit the clumsily staged action. Seriously, that scene is the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" of needle-drop set pieces. It's jarringly awful.

Not that it matters. "Deadpool & Wolverine" is on pace to be the highest grossing R-rated movie worldwide in motion picture history, so this clearly wasn't a deal breaker for most moviegoers. I will note, however, that "Deadpool 2" director David Leitch totally ate Levy's lunch with the "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" karaoke/car chase scene in "The Fall Guy."