Whilst “Fantastic Four” and eventually the “X-Men” are being fully rebooted for the MCU, the upcoming “Deadpool 3” will see its pre-existing Fox-Marvel franchise officially going full Marvel Studios.
In doing so, it’ll deliver the first R-rated Marvel Studios film and the first to properly integrate Marvel characters from Fox’s films into the MCU’s narrative storytelling (Patrick Stewart’s “Doctor Strange” sequel cameo is too short to count).
Production was underway for months in England until the actor’s strike saw the Shawn Levy-directed film having to hit pause whilst the labor dispute is ongoing. Once over, it’s expected filming will begin again right away.
Speaking with Total Film (via Slashfilm) recently, Levy says acknowledging the history of the Fox side of Marvel in the film isn’t just for laughs, it’s actually fairly crucial to the whole movie storywise:
“Deadpool and Wolverine are iconic Marvel characters; more specifically, iconic Marvel-of-the-Fox-era characters. We’re not going to pretend: ‘Oh, we snap our fingers, and suddenly that Fox legacy doesn’t exist, and it shaped a lot of what we now know as the MCU.’
Fox also shaped Ryan’s career, Hugh’s career and my career. So there’s a lot of history there, and there’s a lot of Marvel history at Fox. And certainly that’s a part of our storytelling.”
Another part of the production that Levy was adamant about was going practical where possible. Marvel films in recent times have been heavily criticised for their over-reliance on digital effects and a post-production pipeline problematic enough it has led to Marvel’s own in-house VFX team becoming the first VFX workers to vote to unionise.
“Deadpool 3” is using location shooting for a portion of the film – doing so led to the leaked set photos of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine being photographed fighting on Norfolk beach in the UK. Levy acknowledges the leak being an unfortunate cost of doing what they’re doing:
“It bums me out that photos have leaked online. But this is the price we pay for committing to real locations. I made a decision very early in prep that even though Deadpool is now in the MCU, I didn’t want another Marvel movie shot on a green screen stage with digital set extensions.”
With the production on hold, Levy says he’s understandably frustrated but feels bad for his colleagues on screen who have to “keep eating obscene amounts of protein… it’s still, you know, boiled chicken 17 times a day.”
“Deadpool 3” was previously slated for May 3rd 2024 – its new date is unknown.
