Summary
Deadpool 3director Shawn Levy has recently providedDeadlinewith a progress report on the highly anticipated Marvel threequel. The production is currently on pause due to the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes. Levy said that he and the cast and crew were “halfway through filming” when the strikes took effect, so there’s still a long way to go. But Levy said that filmingDeadpool 3“was a joy every day” before the shutdown. He confirmed that it’s a full-blown team-up movie with Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine joining forces. Levy said that Reynolds and Jackman’s chemistry in those iconic superhero roles is “as relentless as we all hoped it would be.” It sounds like the big swing of makingDeadpool 3a meta multiversal team-up movie with Wolverine is paying off handsomely.
During the interview, Levy named a handful of movies that he’s using as reference points forDeadpool 3, and these influences could point to the kind of movie that audiences can expect when the threequel finally arrives. It’s confirmed to be a two-hander revolving aroundDeadpool’s team-up with Wolverine, and there will undoubtedly be plenty of bickering along the way, but Levy’s specific touchstones point to the angle he’s taking and the comedic tone he’s going for. Based on the influences that Levy outlined,Deadpool 3is shaping up to be a truly special movie.
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Deadpool 3 Is Taking Influence From Classic Buddy Action Comedies
In his interview with Deadline, Levy named48 Hrs.,Midnight Run, andPlanes, Trains, and Automobilesas influences onDeadpool 3. These influences seem to suggest that Deadpool and Wolverine will be a mismatched “buddy cop” duo on a disastrous road trip in the threequel (and that sounds amazing).48 Hrs.is one of the earliest “buddy cop” moviesthat established the tropes of the genre. Nick Nolte stars as a grizzled cop alongside Eddie Murphy (in his movie debut) as a wisecracking convict. Nolte’s Jack Cates gets Murphy’s Reggie Hammond released from prison for two days so he can help him track down his escaped partner-in-crime.48 Hrs.was directed by Walter Hill, one of the greatest action filmmakers, so it has a surplus of wonderfully gritty action sequences, from a shootout in a hotel to a handful of brutal, messy fight scenes. But the heart of the movie is Jack and Reggie’s burgeoning friendship. They go from despising each other to genuinely respecting each other and caring about each other.
Midnight Runstars Robert De Niro as a bounty hunter and Charles Grodin as his bounty. They bicker and argue their way across the United States, pursued by mobsters, FBI agents, and rival bounty hunters. De Niro’s Jack Walsh is promised a big enough paycheck to quit the bounty hunting profession if he can bring in Grodin’s Jonathan “The Duke” Mardukas, a mafia accountant who ripped off a fearsome crime boss. Much like48 Hrs.’ Jack and Reggie,Midnight Run’s Jack and the Dukestart off hating each other, but gradually get to know each other and empathize with each other and end up becoming the best of friends. By the end of the movie, Jack loves the Duke so much that he tells him to get behind him during the climactic confrontation, so he can protect him from any potential gunfire.
Planes, Trains, and Automobilesis much less action-driven than Levy’s other two influences, but it captures the same camaraderie between two reluctant partners.Steve Martin plays a businessmandesperately trying to get home from a work trip in time for Thanksgiving with his family; John Candy plays a lonely shower ring salesman who gloms onto him. When their flight is diverted, they embark on a hellish three-day journey from New York to Chicago. The arc of their relationship is the same as48 Hrs.andMidnight Run: mutual resentment eventually evolves into a beautiful friendship.
What Levy’s Influences Could Mean For Deadpool & Wolverine’s Relationship
These three movies all have elements of action, but they’re buddy comedies at heart and that’s great news forDeadpool 3. It means that Levy is much more interested in the characters and their on-screen dynamic and interpersonal relationship than the superhero spectacle around them. Nolte and Murphy’s dynamic in48 Hrs.seems like the perfect template for ‘Pool and Wolvie’s on-screen interactions. Murphy is a wacky, scene-stealing comic personality (i.e. Deadpool), while Nolte is the gruff, stern-faced straight man (i.e. Wolverine).
Midnight RunandPlanes, Trains, and Automobilesare both road trip stories about two polar opposite travelers who are stuck with each other on an arduous cross-country journey, so maybeDeadpool 3is a road movie. Whatever the actual plot is,Deadpool 3will be focusing squarely on Deadpool and Wolverine’s relationship as mutual resentment morphs into mutual love and respect. As long as it’s a true buddy picture, the threequel is on the right track.
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