Shawn Levy Says That ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Is Not a Sequel: “It Is Singular”

The ‘Deadpool’ franchise was under Fox, along with many other mutant-related properties. They had their own successful universe before the MCU even existed.

The first two Deadpool movies were huge successes. When Disney merged with Fox, it was expected that Deadpool would join the MCU eventually. Marvel Studios would likely reboot the live-action X-Men movies, bringing popular comic characters into the mix.

After Marvel Studios’ presentation at CinemaCon, they screened the first 9 minutes of the upcoming movie to attendees, and the initial feedback was very positive. After the event, Shawn Levy spoke to Collider about the role of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ within the franchise. He clarified that the upcoming movie isn’t a sequel to ‘Deadpool 2,’ despite similarities in appearance.

“Well, the truth is, I think your answer is in the question, which is if you make the kinds of movies I make, you are listening to the audience. I’m not making small films for my own satisfaction in a room alone, I’m making it to connect to the biggest audience possible. We have had some early screenings that were extremely, extremely promising. I wouldn’t say that there were any big surprises, but you feel where the pace wants to tighten, you feel where you can afford to slow down and have a deeper, more durable character moment. And at the end of the day, as I think we’ve said, it’s very much a Deadpool movie, but this is not Deadpool 3. This is Deadpool & Wolverine, and it is singular because of that.”

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ serves as both a crossover and a reboot of the franchise. Deadpool is departing from the established Fox universe, moving in a new direction entirely. The inclusion of Wolverine, who is expected to have a significant role in the movie, further sets it apart from others in the franchise.

Shawn also shared his thoughts on witnessing the audience’s reaction to the 9-minute footage.

“You know what else? I didn’t want to show 90 seconds, I didn’t want to show a sizzle reel. We wanted to show a taste of the movie. We wanted to do it without spoilers. And yeah, it was a lot of set-up, it was a lot of first act type storytelling, but the fact that those scenes, which aren’t even near our funniest or our most insane, those jokes, and those moments played the way they did today, that was pretty thrilling. I was standing in the dark side of the theater with Kevin [Feige], and we had smiles on our faces seeing the way it was received.”

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