Ryan Reynolds Given Total Control Of Deadpool 3?
It looks like Ryan Reynolds is going to be in full control of Deadpool 3 when it comes to Disney and the Marvel Cinematic Universe
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Ryan Reynolds is set to bring Deadpool and all the character’s, um, maturity, into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time. The prospect of adding such a popular character to an already rich universe is pretty exciting. But there have been some hiccups along the way with Reynolds and the studio apparently at odds around the film and character’s direction. That might be getting ironed out though with insider Daniel Richtman saying that Marvel head Kevin Feige is turning creative control over to Reynolds. It looks like we’ll be getting the same old Deadpool even in the MCU.
When the rights to Deadpool 3, the character and the franchise, was acquired by Marvel from 20th Century Studios, it did look like something of a crossroads for both groups. On the one hand, Marvel has made its superhero movie bones on all-inclusive, mostly family-friendly productions that had broad appeal. The formula has been a winning one with the franchise’s first three phases just crushing (understatement) the box office. But Deadpool was an altogether different product. Ryan Reynolds led an R-Rated movie in every sense of the ratings-designation. The character was lude and graphic with the violence and bloodshed ramped up to ridiculous levels. It also, very much worked.
But now Deadpool 3 will be under the Marvel Cinematic Universe umbrella and apparently there had bene some boiling tension between Ryan Reynolds and the studio about which direction this new movie would take. Apparently, he wanted things to stay very much the same for the franchise, leaning into the R-Rating with all of the character’s devil-may-care attitudes towards violence, sex, and profanity. But Marvel wanted to dial things down, getting the next Deadpool movie to fit within the PG confines of the studio. Rumor had it the tensions led to Reynolds moving his Maximum Effort production company off the Disney lot.
These latest rumors appear to suggest that Ryan Reynolds either won or is winning, the creative battle between the two. If Feige is, in fact, willing to turn over creative control and vision to Reynolds then we are almost certainly getting a Deadpool 3 that lines up with the first two movies. And by the way, it isn’t like those were just a couple of little Indie films with a limited vision. Despite the R-Rating (or maybe because of it) the first two Deadpool movies totaled more than $1.5 billion at the box office on *only* a $170 million production budget.
Look, I think we always knew this next Deadpool would be R-rated, even in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s just tough to imagine the Merc with the Mouth being dialed back, into some family-friendly fare. I suspect the issues and tensions here were more about just *how* R-rated things were going to get. Even that likely had some kind of dividing line. But in all, getting Ryan Reynolds in control of the character and the vision of the movie for sure seems like the way to go. It worked for him before and will work for him again even if the studio has changed. The character is still the same one. And Deadpool can’t go kid-friendly.
