Shawn Levy Didn't Want To Give Deadpool 3 The Marvel Green Screen Treatment
"Deadpool 3" marks a number of noteworthy "firsts" for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The, uh, first and perhaps most significant is that it's designed to be R-rated, an unprecedented move for a franchise that once conquered the box office through the power of the four-quadrant movie. It's also the first film to fully integrate characters from 20th Century Fox's (RIP) "X-Men" universe into the fabric of the MCU, no doubt using some sort of multiversal maneuvering to explain how Hugh Jackman's Wolverine got better after his death in "Logan."
Less obvious, though just as worthy of pointing out, is that "Deadpool 3" is the first MCU project in a hot minute to find itself subject to spoiler leaks courtesy of the paparazzi and general onlookers snapping up photos from the movie's set. This used to be common among major Hollywood productions about a decade ago, to the degree that many of the biggest twists in "The Dark Knight Rises" were spoiled by leaked set photos over a year before the film hit theaters in 2012. Since then, studios have beefed up their on-set security measures something fierce, with Marvel Studios going so far as to shoot down drones that try and sneak a peek while one of its projects is filming.
This is also part of the reason why studios like Marvel and Lucasfilm have eagerly turned to shooting on sets with green screens and the virtual backdrops of The Volume. It's not just about wanting to use CGI for everything (though there is that); it's because this makes it easier to keep major reveals or secrets under wraps during production. However, for "Deadpool 3" director Shawn Levy, that lack of secrecy was a price worth paying if it meant he could avoid giving the film the green screen treatment.
The price of filming on location
For all the wonders The Volume is capable of, we've already seen the limits of the technology in shows like "The Mandalorian" and the MCU film "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." Films like "Thor: Love and Thunder" have similarly exposed the problems with trying to realize massive locations using the restricted physical space of studio sets with green screen backdrops. Levy acknowledged as much in an interview with Total Film Magazine, waving off the film's set photo leaks as a regrettable but necessary cost to avoid turning "Deadpool 3" into, potentially, another green screen mess:
"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."
To be sure, anyone who's ever shot a film or TV series on location can relate to the lack of control that comes with that, whether it's photo leaks, uncontrollable weather, or if you're shooting a "Dune" sequel in the desert, "sand-trauma." But when it came to Ryan Reynolds' Merc With a Mouth and Jackman's claw-slashing mutant, Levy felt they deserved the red carpet treatment (so to speak):
"And 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."
Taking life one boiled chicken at a time
Like most people in the film and TV industry, Levy is in a holding pattern while he waits for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to finally offer a fair deal to the striking actors and writers' guilds. As he sees it, though, he's got nothing to complain about compared to Jackman and Reynolds, both of whom have to maintain their muscular builds for "Deadpool 3" extra long due to the prolonged break in filming. "I feel bad that Hugh and Ryan have to keep eating obscene amounts of protein," Levy laughed. "For me, it's impatience and a certain agita, the waiting. But for them, it's still, you know, boiled chicken 17 times a day..."
Just as the two actors have to take life one boiled chicken at a time, Levy knows he can't fixate on when production will resume, much less the fan expectations surrounding "Deadpool 3" and the impact it could ultimately have on the MCU, both creatively and financially. "I'm making Deadpool now," he explained. "It's a huge Marvel movie co-starring Wolverine, and if I look at the totality of it, it might be intimidating. So I just figure out: 'What's the next shot? What's the next joke? What's the next moment in the scene?'" In the meantime, I might advise Levy to stay offline as much as possible, lest the continued "Deadpool 3" photo leaks and rumors send his blood pressure skyrocketing.
"Deadpool 3" was once tentatively scheduled to arrive on May 3, 2024, but was recently quietly removed from Disney's release calendar. Keep it tuned to /Film for more updates on that front.