Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy promises movie will have same snarky tone

It’s just under three months until Deadpool & Wolverine is finally released and fans will have the answer to this burning question: Will the character’s snark and violence really survive its absorption into Disney?

Director Shawn Levy wanted to assure everyone that it’s a resounding yes.

“There was no way I was going to reinvent a wheel, a tonal wheel, that works so beautifully,” Levy told Associated Press. “Both Disney and Marvel, up and down the food chain, empowered Ryan and I to make this movie exactly as we dreamed.”

Ryan Reynolds’ anti-hero with a penchant for copious expletives used to be part of the 20th Century Fox stable but Disney’s acquisition of Fox in 2019 meant all the X-Men characters can be folded into Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While the MCU has had its share of irreverent jokes and blockbuster deaths, it’s a relatively chaste, family friendly and bloodless franchise. Deadpool is not that. Levy’s comments are the latest in a string designed to calm any nervous fans that Disney might blunt Deadpool’s stinging wit.

When Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige introduced Deadpool & Wolverine footage at CinemaCon earlier this month, he dropped nine F-bombs in his onstage intro – language that has not passed Feige’s lips in public before. That CinemaCon footage also featured references to sex acts and illicit drugs.

Still, Marvel can’t afford for reticent fans to stay home. The MCU was formerly a licence to print money with its billion-dollar box office totals but its more recent efforts have had subdued ticket sales. There’s a sense that superhero fatigue has set in with audiences, and Disney will need Deadpool & Wolverine to reinvigorate the appetite for its upcoming slate.

Levy also addressed the other point of contention with MCU movies, which is how much new projects rely on audiences to be familiar with 16 years of plots, twists and characters from other films and streaming series.

Levy said Deadpool & Wolverine will not necessitate cramming or homework. He said, “I very much made this film with certainly a healthy respect and gratitude towards the rabid fan base that has peak fluency in the mythology and lore of these characters and this world. But I didn’t want to presume that.

“This movie is built for entertainment, with no obligation to come prepared with prior research.”

The plot of the film remains under guard but what little we do know involves Deadpool being called back into active service by an agent of the Time Variance Authority, a MCU organisation that controls the flow of time and multiverses.

The TVA was introduced in the Loki series but has yet to feature prominently in Marvel’s big screen adventures. But it does open the door to how the X-Men characters can be integrated into the MCU.

And if you’re wondering how Wolverine fits into the story when his character was killed off in the 2017 neo-Western film Logan, that movie takes place in 2029. Deadpool & Wolverine has promised it will not retcon Logan, whether that means it’s because it takes place earlier than Logan or if it’s a multiverse version of the character, will be answered come July.

In the meantime, Levy has promised the pairing will delight. He said,  “It’s a really interesting duo. They’re built for huge conflict with each other because they’re so different individually.

“But that makes for a very interesting story because the best two-hander stories, whether it’s Midnight Run or 48 Hours or Planes, Trains and Automobiles, yes, it’s littered with conflict. But it’s ultimately about something more as well and that’s what audiences will see.”

Deadpool & Wolverine is released in Australia on July 25.