Shawn Levy Discusses Cameos and Legacy

Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy recently shared insights about the decision-making process behind the movie’s star-studded cameos. Now that the film has been in theaters for a few weeks, spoilers are no longer off-limits, and Levy opened up about how they focused on “legacy” when it came to these special appearances.

Getting Channing Tatum, Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Garner, and Dafne Keen together in one film was no small feat. Yet, there was a common theme among all these characters: they never received a proper ending. Deadpool & Wolverine gave them the send-off they deserved, assuming this is indeed the last we see of the so-called “Anarchy Avengers.”

“The vibe on set was a party. We wanted to play with this theme of ‘legacy,’ so we started thinking of characters we knew who never quite got their ending,” Levy revealed. “When we had all these characters together and you have X-23, and you have Blade, and you have Gambit and Elektra, everyone was so happy and grateful.”

Channing Tatum’s decade-long desire to portray Gambit was finally realized in this film. “Everyone was so grateful and happy to be there. We got the work done and we had a lot of fun, but there was just a feeling of ‘wow, what a privilege to do this job.’ That’s something I’ll never forget,” Levy added.

On the topic of cameos, Levy had more to share. Speaking with Variety, he explained that he and Ryan Reynolds reached out to most of these actors personally before their representatives were even involved. Surprisingly, nearly all the actors agreed to participate without needing to hear much about the story.

“With pretty much no exceptions, every surprise casting in this movie came down to Ryan or I reaching out to the actor before lawyers and before agents [were involved],” Levy told Variety. “It literally was us asking and invariably people saying ‘yes.'”

“Cavillrine, which Ryan coined,” Levy said, referring to Henry Cavill’s role. “I knew it was undeniable as soon as Ryan came up with that term. He said ‘yes’ right away because he knew it would be subversive and playful. It was also with a lot of affection for him and his body of work, and playing with his legacy as a DC hero now that he’s appearing as a variant of a Marvel hero.”

Is there anyone else you would have liked to see in the movie?