‘Deadpool 3’ Nearly Became a Low-Budget Road Trip Comedy

Ryan Reynolds has revealed that the third Deadpool movie almost became a budget road trip comedy.

Several ideas were considered, including a movie featuring Reynolds’ superhero, Wade Wilson, and his taxi driver Dopinder, played by Karan Soni. The plot would revolve around their adventures, but ultimately, they decided to pursue the Deadpool & Wolverine storyline.

The 47-year-old actor explained to Entertainment Weekly: “Literally, it was a $5 or $6 million budget with no special effects.”

“It was just a talkie-talkie road trip with me and Dopinder (Karan Soni’s character) and some of the things we collected and saw along the way. It wasn’t meant to be an event movie. If we were headed to Point C, it was meant to just get us to Point B. That was the weirdest one. I liked it. I thought it was kind of fun.”

When Fox was merging with Disney, Reynolds doubted he would get the chance to reprise his role and star in another Marvel movie after 2016’s Deadpool and the 2018 follow-up Deadpool 2.

He admitted: “I didn’t know if I’d ever be playing Deadpool again.”

“It’s not something I would’ve said necessarily publicly, but I didn’t know how a character like that would fit into the MCU.”

Reynolds recently emphasized that he would not have pursued Deadpool & Wolverine without director Shawn Levy.

After collaborating with the 55-year-old filmmaker on Free Guy (2021) and The Adam Project (2022), Reynolds decided he would only work on the third film if Levy was directing. Hugh Jackman, who returns as the iconic mutant superhero, also stars in this film.

Levy told Deadline: “In 2011, Hugh said, ‘You know, if you ever meet Ryan Reynolds and work with him, you’re never going to stop.’ He said that over a decade ago. It took several years before I met Ryan, but when we finally met to discuss Free Guy, it was clear that we were at the right moment in our careers.”

“We’re old enough to know a really good thing when we stumble into it and not let go.”

“Free Guy led into The Adam Project. It was on the set of Adam Project that Ryan told me he only wanted to do Deadpool 3 if I directed it.”

Source: Entertainment Weekly, Deadline