Shawn Levy's Deadpool & Wolverine, co-starring real life besties Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, has become a Hollywood sensation thanks to its endless cameos, surprising heart, and several hilarious references.
Among the many quips about the real lives of its stars, we have Deadpool joking about his love for Blake Lively's Gossip Girl, Jennifer Garner's divorce from Ben Affleck, and Hugh's own split from Deborra-Lee Furness.
The Australian actor, 55, and his longtime actress wife, 68, shocked the world with news of their split in September 2023 after 27 years of marriage, and that came back to haunt Wolverine in the latest MCU offering.
One of the funniest quips from Marvel's "merc with the mouth" comes in the form of a jab at Hugh over his divorce, with Deadpool saying: "He's normally shirtless, but he's let himself go since the divorce."
However, director Shawn explained to Variety that the joke, as was the reference to Jennifer and Ben's split, were both passed by the respective actors and they were completely okay with it.
"We never did a joke about or with anyone that we didn't run by them first," the director explained. "Whether it was scripted, like the Daredevil line, or unscripted, like 'He's normally shirtless, but he's let himself go since the divorce,' which was more of on-set improv, Ryan or I would always run the lines by performers and make sure everyone felt comfortable and that we were never punching down."
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He emphasized that it was all in good fun and the actors were in on it. "It was all in a playful spirit that everyone felt good about. Those lines wouldn't be in the movie if Hugh and Jen didn't think they were funny."
Jennifer and Ben were Marvel co-stars back in 2003 when they starred in Daredevil, and Shawn pointed out that he did in fact get an opportunity to reach out to the Oscar-winning writer and producer about another part of the film he is featured in.
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"Early on, when we were looking at a 70-name menu of Marvel characters, Daredevil was on one of those lists, but never since those earliest of conversations, and never to the point of outreach or offers or anything like that," he mentioned of any efforts made to ask Ben about reprising his role.
He did add, however, that since the Argo star was part of the FOX tribute reel in the movie's end credits section, he did seek Ben's approval for that. "We made contact with everyone featured in the Fox tribute reel halfway through our end credits — and that’s dozens of actors who have been a part of that legacy."
"That was fun to build a love letter to those years, those characters, and all the actors who played them."
Deadpool & Wolverine currently remains atop the domestic and global box office, nearly two weeks after release, and has grossed over $824 million, becoming the highest grossing R-rated film in the United States of all time, and the second highest grossing film of the year so far (behind Inside Out 2).