Deadpool 3
Development on a third Deadpool film began at 20th Century Fox by November 2016, but was placed on hold after the studio was acquired by Disney in March 2019. Control of the character was transferred to Marvel Studios, which began developing a new film with Reynolds. It integrates Deadpool with the MCU and retains the R rating of the previous films, making it the first MCU film to have such a rating. Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin joined in November 2020 as writers. Reese and Wernick returned from the previous films for rewrites by March 2022, when Levy was hired as director. They, along with Reynolds and Wells, had difficulty figuring out the film's story until Jackman decided to reprise his role as Wolverine from Fox's X-Men films in August 2022. Filming began in May 2023 at Pinewood Studios in England, with additional filming in Norfolk and at Bovingdon Film Studios. Production was suspended in July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, but resumed in November and wrapped in January 2024. The film's title was revealed a month later.
Deadpool & Wolverine is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 26, 2024, as part of Phase Five of the MCU.
Premise
Six years after the events of Deadpool 2 (2018), Wade Wilson lives a quiet life, having left his time as the mercenary Deadpool behind him, until the Time Variance Authority (TVA)—a bureaucratic organization that exists outside of time and space and monitors the timeline—pulls him into a new mission. With his home universe facing an existential threat, Wilson reluctantly joins an even more reluctant Wolverine on a mission that will change the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Cast
- Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool:
A wisecracking mercenary with accelerated healing but severe scarring over his body after undergoing an experimental regenerative mutation to treat terminal cancer. The start of the film sees Wilson no longer operating as Deadpool, no longer dating Vanessa, and working as a used car salesman. Writer Rhett Reese described Deadpool as a fish-out-of water in the film, a lunatic dropped into the "sane world" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Reynolds said the audience did not have to take Deadpool seriously, particularly with his fourth wall breaking and unreliable narration, but he wanted them to be invested in the other characters. - Hugh Jackman as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine:
A mutant with healing abilities, retractable claws, and an adamantium-infused skeleton. This version of the character is from an alternative universe where he let down the inhabitants. This, along with pairing Wolverine with Deadpool, allowed Jackman to explore new aspects of the character than in his prior appearances in 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series. Jackman said Logan and Wilson were opposites and had a "quarreling dynamic", while director Shawn Levy said their relationship is impacted by both characters being "haunted with regret". To prepare for the role, Jackman began a vigorous workout routine that included eating up to 8,000 calories a day. - Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova:
A mutant with telekinetic and telepathic powers, who is the twin sister of Charles Xavier with other-worldly origins. Corrin was excited to play a villain in the film as they had not played many villainous roles before. Corrin took inspiration from Christoph Waltz's character Hans Landa in the film Inglourious Basterds (2009), while Reynolds highlighted Corrin's humanization and the motivation of the character, comparing Nova's "mischief, danger, [and] unpredictability" to the energy of actor Gene Wilder. Reynolds and Levy explained Nova to Corrin as someone who would endear and charm you to the point that "you are going to be best friends for life" only to realize she could easily kill you. Corrin was interested in having a physical transformation for the role but was told by the studio that this was not required for the character. - Matthew Macfadyen as Paradox: A Time Variance Authority (TVA) agent
Reprising their roles from the previous Deadpool films are: Morena Baccarin as Vanessa Carlysle, Wilson's former fiancée, whose relationship with Wilson is further reinvented in the film according to Baccarin; Rob Delaney as Peter Wisdom, a member of Wilson's X-Force team; Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Wilson's blind elderly roommate; Karan Soni as Dopinder, a taxi driver and admirer of Wilson who serves as his de facto chauffeur; Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, a teenage member of the X-Men with the mutant power to detonate atomic bursts from her body; Stefan Kapičić as the voice of Colossus, a member of the X-Men with the mutant ability to transform his body into organic steel; Shioli Kutsuna as Yukio, Negasonic Teenage Warhead's girlfriend and fellow X-Men member; Randal Reeder as Buck; and Lewis Tan as Shatterstar, a member of X-Force.
Several actors from previous Fox-produced Marvel films also reprise their roles, including: Aaron Stanford as Pyro, a mutant with the ability to manipulate fire; Tyler Mane as Sabretooth, a mutant with extendable claws and superhuman strength; and Jennifer Garner as Elektra Natchios, an assassin who wields a pair of sai, from Daredevil (2003) and Elektra (2005). Stanford enjoyed having a more comics-accurate costume over the ones he had worn in X2 (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). Also appearing in the film are: Dogpool, a canine variant of Wilson, played by dog actor Peggy; Lady Deadpool, a female variant of Wilson; and the mutants Toad, Lady Deathstrike, and Azazel. Additionally, Chris Hemsworth appears as Thor through repurposed archival footage from Thor: The Dark World (2013), while Greg Hemphill plays a bartender, and Wrexham A.F.C. player Ollie Palmer briefly appears as a bar attendee. Rob McElhenney makes an undisclosed cameo appearance.
Production
Background
After the success of Deadpool (2016), 20th Century Fox began developing two sequels. The third film was set to include the superhero team X-Force. Deadpool director Tim Miller chose not to return for the sequels due to creative differences with star Ryan Reynolds, and David Leitch was hired to direct Deadpool 2 (2018) in November 2016. Fox was looking for another filmmaker to develop the third film. In March 2017, Deadpool and Deadpool 2 co-writer Rhett Reese said X-Force would be introduced in Deadpool 2 before starring in a planned spin-off film that would launch "something bigger", separate from the third Deadpool film, which would be more personal. When the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced in December 2017, the Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger said Reynolds's Deadpool would be integrated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). This was despite those films being rated PG-13 and the Deadpool films being R-rated. Iger said Disney was willing to make R-rated Deadpool films "as long as we let the audiences know what's coming" and said a "Marvel-R brand" could be created for characters like Deadpool. In May 2018, Reynolds said a third Deadpool film may not be made due to the shift of focus to X-Force. Reese and his writing partner Paul Wernick said a third film would happen after Reynolds took a break from the character and the X-Force film was released, similar to the MCU crossover film The Avengers (2012) being released between Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013).
At the end of May 2018, Leitch expressed interest in returning for another Deadpool film, depending on the schedule. A third Deadpool film was believed to be in active development by that August, with production planned to take place in Atlanta, Georgia, rather than in Vancouver, Canada, where the previous films were made. Once Upon a Deadpool, a PG-13 version of Deadpool 2, was released at the end of the year. It was watched carefully by Disney and Marvel Studios to see how it might inform their approach to the character in the MCU. While promoting Once Upon a Deadpool, Reynolds confirmed that a third Deadpool film was in development and said it would go in a "completely different direction". Reynolds later revealed that they were considering a road trip film styled after Rashomon (1950) featuring Hugh Jackman's X-Men character James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine. Karan Soni, who portrayed Dopinder in the first two Deadpool films, reiterated these plans and explained that the film would have focused on Deadpool trying to save Christmas by going on a road trip to the North Pole. Jackman had himself envisioned a team-up film with Reynolds inspired by 48 Hrs. (1982) while attending a screening of Deadpool in 2016, but chose to retire from the role of Wolverine after Logan (2017). In March 2019, Disney officially acquired Fox and gained the film rights to several Marvel Comics characters for Marvel Studios, including Deadpool and the X-Men. The Marvel-based films that Fox had been developing were placed "on hold".
Josh Brolin, who portrayed Cable in Deadpool 2 and Thanos in the MCU, said in June 2019 that he had discussed his future as Cable with Marvel Studios. In October, Zazie Beetz said she would be surprised if she did not reprise her Deadpool 2 role of Domino in a future film. That month, Reese and Wernick said they and Reynolds were taking a "much-needed rest from Deadpool" while they waited to hear from Marvel Studios about the franchise's future. They confirmed that another Deadpool film would be made, that it would be R-rated like the previous films, and that it would integrate the character with the MCU. Wernick said there was never a set pitch for a third Deadpool film between their exhaustion following Deadpool 2 and the announcement of Fox's acquisition by Disney. Reese said they now had to "land on the right idea and once we do, I think we'll be off to the races". The writers felt there would be more characters available in the MCU to act as foils for Deadpool compared to their restricted options among the characters that Fox had control over for the previous films.
Development
Reynolds revealed in mid-October 2019 that he was meeting with Marvel Studios. At that time, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was unsure how to integrate Deadpool into the MCU and was still thinking about how the X-Men and mutants in general would be added to the franchise. Feige described Reynolds as an "idea machine" who pitched many different approaches for the film, including a low budget road trip film with Deadpool and Dopinder that was compared to independent films from the Sundance Film Festival. Reynolds also pitched his previous idea for a Rashomon–style team-up film with Wolverine, which would tell one story from three different perspectives. He was told that it would not be possible to include Wolverine in the film. In December, Reynolds confirmed that the "whole team" was actively developing a Deadpool film at Marvel Studios.
Reynolds and Marvel Studios met with potential writers throughout October 2020, including Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin whose pitch was in line with their intentions for the film. The Molyneux sisters were hired to write the screenplay the next month. Reynolds and Marvel Studios were open to Leitch returning for the film, but he was not expected to due to other commitments throughout 2021 and was not involved in hiring the writers. Leitch later confirmed that he met with Marvel for the film, but both parties understood that scheduling and other commitments would prevent him from returning. In January 2021, Feige reaffirmed that the film would receive an R rating and would be set in the MCU. Reynolds was supervising the scripting process at that time, and Feige said filming would not begin until after 2021 due to Reynolds's busy schedule.
While filming The Adam Project (2022) with director Shawn Levy, Reynolds approached Levy about working together on the next Deadpool film after they had become frequent collaborators. Reynolds assumed Levy would not be interested due to it being a sequel and not an original work, but Levy was enthused about the idea as long as they had the right story to tell. In July 2021, Reynolds and Taika Waititi promoted their film Free Guy (2021), also directed by Levy, by appearing as Deadpool and Waititi's MCU character Korg, respectively, in a commercial for that film titled Deadpool and Korg React. Deadpool, who often breaks the fourth wall, discusses joining the MCU with Korg in the commercial. The next month, Reynolds said he expected filming to begin in 2022, which Feige soon confirmed. Feige added that Marvel Studios had a release timeframe in mind for the film. In November, Beetz and Rob Delaney expressed interest in returning as their Deadpool 2 characters Domino and Peter, but Beetz ultimately did not return for the third film. Also in November, Reynolds said they were "plugging away" at the film.
Levy was revealed to be directing the film in March 2022, and said filming would not begin until after 2022 due to his busy schedule through the remainder of the year. Reese and Wernick were hired to rewrite the screenplay, and said they were excited to use MCU elements in the film. They added that Disney and Marvel were supportive of jokes about the MCU that they were writing for Deadpool given the success of the previous films. They would not confirm whether they were starting from scratch or reworking the previous draft by the Molyneux sisters. In June, Raymond Chan was revealed to be the production designer after working on the Disney+ MCU television series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). Feige said in July that the film would be elevated from the first two in a similar way to other third installments of MCU film series, such as Captain America: Civil War (2016), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
Levy and Reynolds worked on the script with Reese, Wernick, and Zeb Wells, who previously worked on the MCU miniseries She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) and Marvel Zombies (2024), and the film The Marvels (2023). They all began to feel that they did not have an original story that was not derivative of the other Deadpool films. Levy explained that they felt the film had to be "deserving" of being the first Deadpool film set within the MCU, while still feeling "grounded because this is an earthbound, gritty, realistic superhero franchise". Levy and Reynolds were prepared to suggest to Feige that the film not move forward at that time because of the trouble they had landing on a story idea, with executive producer Wendy Jacobson also stating that Marvel was struggling to settle on a core idea for the film. In August 2022, Jackman reached out to Reynolds about wanting to be part of the film. Reynolds was preparing for a meeting with Feige to discuss how to proceed given their lack of story ideas, and realized that including Wolverine would solve many of the issues they were coming up against. Jackman had a change of heart, after being content with his decision to retire as Wolverine for several years, and decided that a team-up film with Reynolds "could be so much fun; I'll probably have more fun on that movie than anything I've ever done". Feige advised Jackman not to return, as he felt Wolverine's death in Logan was the "greatest ending in history" and did not want to undo that. He was won over by the idea that Jackman would portray a new version of Wolverine, and Jackman confirmed that he wanted to return after taking a long drive to think about it.
Reynolds announced in September 2022 that Jackman would return as Wolverine for Deadpool 3, which was set for release on September 6, 2024. The pair said the film would avoid affecting the events of Logan by using a narrative device from Marvel Studios that allowed different versions of characters to move around timelines. Levy said preserving Logan's legacy was top priority for the creative team. Jackman reached out to Logan director James Mangold to inform him of the film's story and said Mangold was both enthusiastic about the idea and relieved that Logan would not be impacted. Alongside Feige, Reynolds and Levy produced the film through their respective production companies Maximum Effort and 21 Laps Entertainment, as did X-Men film producer Lauren Shuler Donner. Simon Kinberg served as an executive producer after producing the previous Deadpool films and some X-Men films. He said the film had been authored by Levy, Reynolds, and Feige, and they all cared deeply about Logan, Deadpool, and Wolverine. Levy added that the legacies of Deadpool and Wolverine informed the film's story and themes. Jackman said the film may not be titled Deadpool 3, with Reynolds later referring to it as "The Deadpool/Wolverine film", and Jackman referring to it as Wolverine and Deadpool. Levy said the creative team were discussing multiple options for the title, and he had at times referred to it as Deadpool Versus Wolverine, Deadpool and Wolverine, and Deadpool 3 with Wolverine. The film's official title was announced as Deadpool & Wolverine in February 2024, with Levy acknowledging that it was the third Deadpool film but he did not want to call it Deadpool 3 because it is a "two-hander character adventure" that focuses on both characters. Despite this, Reynolds said the film was tonally still a Deadpool film, with violence, swearing, and "meta mayhem". He called it "the most Deadpool movie in the history of Deadpool".
Pre-production
Pre-production work began by October 2022, less than two months after Jackman decided to join the film. Jacobson said this was one of the fastest turnarounds she had seen for a big production. Filming was expected to begin in January 2023 in Vancouver. In mid-October, the film's release date was pushed back to November 8, 2024. Reynolds said the next month that filming would begin in mid-2023, and Levy confirmed in December that filming was set to begin that May. He said developing the film was one of the most fun creative experiences of his career, citing the film's self-awareness, violence, and foul language. Levy said he did not want to alter the franchise's DNA from the prior films and called the new film "raw, audacious, [and] very much R-rated", comparing it to the buddy comedy films Midnight Run (1988), 48 Hrs., and Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987).
Patrick Stewart, who portrayed Charles Xavier in the X-Men film series and reprised the role in the MCU film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), had been approached about potentially making an appearance in the film by February 2023. Later that month, filming was set to take place in London, and Emma Corrin joined the cast in a lead villain role. Marvel had been considering Corrin since late 2022 but had to work through scheduling issues with their other commitments before they signed on. Corrin was cast after Levy saw their performance in a stage production of Virginia Woolf's Orlando. In March, Jeff Sneider of Above the Line reported that the Time Variance Authority (TVA), Mobius M. Mobius (portrayed by Owen Wilson), and Miss Minutes (voiced by Tara Strong) from the MCU television series Loki (2021–2023) would be featured in the film. Later that month, Matthew Macfadyen joined the cast in an undisclosed role, which was described as a third wheel to Deadpool and Wolverine. Karan Soni and Leslie Uggams were set to reprise their roles as Dopinder and Blind Al from the previous Deadpool films. In early April, Morena Baccarin said she was in negotiations to reprise her Deadpool role as Vanessa Carlysle, and she was confirmed to be returning later that month along with Stefan Kapičić as the voice of Colossus. The following month, Delaney, Brianna Hildebrand, and Shioli Kutsuna were revealed to be reprising their respective roles as Peter, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Yukio.
Graham Churchyard and Mayes C. Rubeo were the film's costume designers. Jackman wears a yellow and blue costume similar to Wolverine's costumes from X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997) and the comic books, specifically Astonishing X-Men volume 3 (2004–2013) drawn by John Cassaday; it also features elements of the character's 1970s design by John Romita Sr. and Dave Cockrum and the 1990s design by Jim Lee. Jackman did not wear a comics-accurate costume in the X-Men film series, though it was referenced in X-Men (2000) and a deleted scene from The Wolverine (2013). The film was therefore an opportunity to see Jackman in a comics-accurate costume for the first time, and Levy felt this could be the last chance for Jackman to wear such a costume. They went through several iterations and fittings to get the suit right. Jackman said putting the suit on "looked so right [and] felt so right" and he questioned why he had not worn such a costume for the previous X-Men films. An early reveal of the costume was met with positive reactions online, and led some commentators to determine that Jackman was portraying a different iteration of the character in the film from the one he portrayed in the X-Men films. Reynolds also has an updated costume from the previous Deadpool films, featuring a brighter shade of red and larger black circles on his mask. This is reminiscent of the character's comic book design from the 1990s. Levy was pleased with the "overwhelmingly positive" response to the suit designs, which were revealed early due to production occurring on location.
Filming
Principal photography began on May 22, 2023, in London and at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England, under the working title Tidal Wave. George Richmond served as the cinematographer after working with Levy and Reynolds on Free Guy. Reynolds lobbied Marvel Studios to film in Vancouver, where he is from and the previous Deadpool films were made, but conceded that "they have their [established] infrastructure, and you just have to sort of fall in line". However, a United States Copyright Office filing for the film indicated that some filming did occur in Vancouver. Levy worked with Marvel Studios and the producers of the Netflix series Stranger Things (2016–present), on which he was an executive producer, to allow him to direct for that series' final season since the schedules for the two projects were expected to overlap.
Filming was not expected to be impacted by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike that began in early May, outside of Reynolds being unable to contribute to the script during filming as he had done for the previous films. Marvel Studios was reportedly planning to shoot what they could during principal photography and make any necessary writing adjustments during the film's already scheduled reshoots. The film was shot on location where possible, to create a more grounded feeling than can be achieved with soundstages. In June, the film's release date was moved forward to May 3, 2024. Filming for a car crash scene took place on location in London in early July 2023. Shortly after, Jennifer Garner was revealed to be appearing in the film as Elektra after portraying a version of that character in the Fox-produced film Daredevil (2003) and its spin-off Elektra (2005); Garner denied her involvement. Filming with Reynolds and Jackman took place in Norfolk.
Production was suspended on July 14, 2023, because of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. 35 days of filming were completed prior to the shutdown, with another 35 days left. Filming was set to resume following the conclusion of the dual Hollywood strikes. Disney paid to keep the film's sets intact during the strike. Levy and Reynolds were able to edit what had been shot and begin work on the visual effects, though they had not prioritized filming major visual effects sequences before the strike. Prior to the strike, Baccarin completed filming all of her scenes, and Levy shot a sequence that he likened to the lightsaber duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi (1983). He asked the film's stunt team to look to that scene's blocking, tempo, and framing for their scene. Levy acknowledged some of the casting rumors surrounding the film—including Garner appearing as Elektra, Liev Schreiber returning as Sabretooth from X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), and Taylor Swift making a cameo appearance as Dazzler—and said some of them were true, but would not confirm which ones. Swift was later stated to not be appearing in the film. Levy said the characters that were included, such as Aaron Stanford reprising his role as Pyro from X2 (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), were added as the story developed rather than being based on a wishlist of characters and cameos that the producers wanted to include. They did not want cameos or "global MCU stakes" to be the focus of the film, and were able to include "deep-cut" references to Marvel's history because Deadpool can serve as a Marvel fan through his fourth wall-breaking. Soni said several cameos were intended to be a surprise for the audience.
The film, along with others that were mid-way through production at the start of the strikes, was said to be a top priority for the studios to resume production following the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strike. In October 2023, Levy questioned if the film would be able to retain its May 2024 release date given the SAG-AFTRA strike was still ongoing at that time, shortly before it was reported that the film was likely to be delayed to a date later in 2024 even if filming was able to resume by the start of that year. After the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strike on November 9, filming was expected to resume in London within the following two weeks before Thanksgiving. Reynolds announced that the character Dogpool would appear in the film, played by dog actor Peggy, and the film's release date was pushed back to July 26, 2024. Filming resumed by November 23. Levy said his time editing and reviewing footage during the strikes allowed him to gain a better understanding of the film, and he was able to return to work without feeling rushed and with a focus on what was needed to complete it.
In early December 2023, set photos revealed that the characters Sabretooth and Toad were appearing in the film. They resembled their appearances in the film X-Men in which they were respectively portrayed by Tyler Mane and Ray Park; Mane was confirmed to be reprising his role as Sabretooth in a trailer released in June 2024. Set photos also revealed a giant 20th Century Fox logo set piece. Reynolds commented shortly after about the set photo leaks, saying they created a difficult situation for the production and expressing his hope that websites would stop publishing unfinished, out-of-context leaked images to "preserve as much of that magic as possible for the finished film and the big screen". He noted that the franchise is associated with leaks since the first Deadpool film was able to be made following a leak of its original test footage. Reynolds proceeded to post faux leaked images featuring Mickey Mouse, Predator, and Steve Urkel, along with various hashtags to try to alter the social media algorithm around the actual leaked photos since platforms prioritize posts from high-profile accounts.
Rob McElhenney, Reynolds' co-chairman of Wrexham A.F.C., visited the set to film a cameo appearance while also discussing matters for their football team given Reynolds' filming schedule. This visit was captured by the Welcome to Wrexham (2022–present) documentary series, which showed McElhenney wearing a TVA agent uniform. At the end of December, Bona Film Group signed a deal with TSG Entertainment to invest in a slate of films, including the Deadpool franchise. In early January 2024, Variety reported that the film would include several characters from prior Fox-produced Marvel films and that it was expected to take a similar approach to Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which features multiple characters from past Spider-Man films coming together. Set photos at the end of the month showed Reynolds wearing a samurai-inspired Deadpool costume. Filming, which also took place at Bovingdon Film Studios, wrapped on January 24. Soni said the film was "taking full advantage of the MCU" and would feature jokes about Feige.
Post-production
The teaser trailer released in February 2024 revealed that Macfadyen was portraying TVA agent Paradox, Randal Reeder and Lewis Tan were reprising their respective roles as Buck and Shatterstar from the previous Deadpool films, and Stanford was returning as Pyro. The copyright filing for the film confirmed that Garner was appearing as Elektra and revealed Corrin's role to be Cassandra Nova. In March, Vinnie Jones said he was asked to reprise his role as Juggernaut from The Last Stand in the film, but a deal could not be agreed upon, and Jones said there was not enough budget to create the Juggernaut suit for him to wear on set. The first official trailer was released the following month and revealed that the creature Alioth from Loki was appearing in the film, along with the characters Lady Deathstrike and Azazel. The latter two resembled Kelly Hu and Jason Flemyng, who portrayed those characters in X2 and X-Men: First Class (2011), respectively.
At the end of April 2024, Levy said he was busy finishing work on the film. Early screenings of the film had taken place, which he described as "extremely, extremely promising", with the main changes coming from them being pacing adjustments. He added that despite the film's multiverse connections and use of elements from other projects, such as the TVA from Loki, he did not expect audiences to do homework before watching the film and intended for it to be an entertaining experience on its own. Post-production was completed on June 19, 2024. Dean Zimmerman and Shane Reid edited the film, while Swen Gillberg served as the visual effects supervisor. Visual effects were provided by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Framestore, Base FX, Barnstorm VFX, Raynault VFX, Rising Sun Pictures, and Wētā FX.
Music
Rob Simonsen was hired to compose the film's score by mid-July 2023. He previously worked with Levy on The Adam Project and the fourth season of Stranger Things.
Marketing
A teaser trailer for the film was released during Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024. Nick Romano from Entertainment Weekly said the trailer confirmed the film's R rating and the fact that Deadpool would be "infiltrating" the MCU. Austin Goslin of Polygon also highlighted the use of MCU elements and questioned whether Reynolds was playing the same version of Deadpool as he did in the previous films, due to how happy he is at the start of the trailer. Wired's Angela Wattercutter noted a sexually explicit pegging joke in the trailer, a first for the MCU. Wattercutter speculated that the film could expand upon queer themes previously explored in Loki and the MCU Thor films. The trailer's inclusion of the Secret Wars (2015) #5 comic book issue was also discussed, given that Marvel Studios had announced the film Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). Shortly after the trailer's premiere, Jackman posted a tongue-in-cheek jab at Reynolds with a modified logo displaying "Wolverine & Asshole". The trailer had 365 million global views in its first 24 hours, surpassing the record of Spider-Man: No Way Home (355.5 million views) to become the most-viewed trailer in that time period. The reported views included the 123 million Super Bowl viewers who saw a 30-second version of the trailer.
A "silence your phones" public service announcement (PSA) with Deadpool and Wolverine opened Disney's presentation at CinemaCon in April 2024, during which Feige and Levy debuted nine minutes of footage from the film. The Hollywood Reporter said this "drew the biggest laughter" of all the presentations at the convention. It included repurposed Thor: The Dark World (2013) footage of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, who is mourning the supposed death of Deadpool rather than Loki as seen in that film. The PSA was later released publicly. An official trailer debuted on April 22, set to "Like a Prayer" by Madonna. A trailer released on May 20, 2024, announcing ticket pre-sales included a QR code that led to a video of Reynolds reading a disclaimer for the film. At the end of the month, a special popcorn bucket for the film's theatrical release was revealed, after Feige had said it would be "intentionally crude and lewd". This was inspired by the viral popcorn bucket for Dune: Part Two (2024). The bucket is shaped like Wolverine's head with a "comically oversized" mouth for the popcorn or other snacks. A video reveal, set to the "Also sprach Zarathustra" fanfare which was famously used in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), shows Deadpool caressing the bucket as popcorn falls into its mouth and butter drips down its nose. A teaser released in early June revealed that the character Lady Deadpool would appear in the film, prompting speculation about who played the role, while Reynolds appeared as Deadpool in a "typically irreverent video" at CineEurope later that month to introduce 12 minutes of footage from the film. Reynolds and Jackman began the film's global marketing tour in early July 2024 in Shanghai with a fan event, followed after by an appearance at the 2024 Waterbomb Festival in Seoul.
Marketing partners for the film included Reynolds's Aviation Gin, Heineken, DiGiorno, Jack in the Box, SuperX, Hot Topic, and Homage. Funko and Hot Toys produced action figures of characters from the film, while Funko will also allow attendees at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con to be able to create personalized versions of their Funko Pop! figures modeled after Deadpool and Wolverine with various exclusives. Variant covers featuring production stills and promotional images from the film will be available on issues of Deadpool #3 in June 2024, Deadpool #4 and Deadpool & Wolverine: WWIII #3 in July, and Deadpool #5, Deadpool Team-Up #1, and Wolverine: Revenge #1 in August.
Release
Deadpool & Wolverine is set to have its world premiere in New York City. The film is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on July 25, 2024, and then in the United States and China on July 26, in IMAX, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, Cinemark XD, and other premium large formats (PLMs). It was previously scheduled for September 6 of that year, then November 8, and then May 3. It will be part of Phase Five of the MCU. The Motion Picture Association gave the film an R rating, making the film the first in the MCU to be rated as such.
Box office projections
Fandango announced that ticket pre-sales for the film were the best of 2024, the franchise's best, and the best for an R-rated film on the site, while AMC Theatres announced that 200,000 people bought first-day tickets at AMC, the most sales for any R-rated film at the theater chain. The Hollywood Reporter reported that first-day ticket sales were likely around $8–9 million and felt the film would debut at over $100 million, something no 2024 film release had done by late May. The Quorum, which looks at box office projections for films as early as six weeks ahead of release, projected the film would open between $200–239 million. They said these were conservative projections and it was likely to open higher. Deadline Hollywood noted that no R-rated film had ever opened domestically over $200 million, with the record opening for an R-rated film being the first Deadpool with $132.4 million. Three weeks ahead of release, multiple tracking services projected the film would open between $160–165 million, which would still be a record opening for an R-rated film and the best opening for a 2024 release. Deadline Hollywood said Disney was expecting an opening in this range, and added that presale tickets was at $19 million. Quorum reaffirmed its projection of a $200+ million opening at that time.