Ryan Reynolds says that Disney CEO Bob Iger wanted one very specific thing cut from Deadpool & Wolverine, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
On one level, that is not really a surprise. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is at a delicate juncture, and if the third movie starring Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson (no, we’re not counting the 2009 movie that shall not be named) had flopped at the box office, it could have been disastrous.
Even if that were not the case, The Walt Disney Company is famously full of notes for directors (like, for example, “less gay”), and some micromanagement is to be expected.
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However, getting that much direct feedback from the chief executive officer of the entire company is somewhat unusual. That’s probably why Ryan Reynolds talked about it (per Deadline) at the recent Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York.
The actor also said that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige commented, vis-à-vis Deadpool & Wolverine, “something that sounds very pedantic and is probably not the thing to say out loud, but actually, weirdly, served as a creative engine. He was like, ‘Make every scene great.’ And I was like, ‘Thanks, Kev. Sounds good.’”
It seems that Bob Iger was a bit more proactive. According to Reynolds, “There was only one line in the entire film that [Disney] asked me to take out…No. No. No! And they were right!” Never let it be said that the Free Guy (2021) doesn’t like to be a bit dramatic, even in real life.
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Ryan Reynolds went on to say that he basically resisted cutting this mysterious line of dialogue until Iger himself intervened. He said:
“As soon as somebody says something, like, ‘Ryan, Bob Iger here. Would love it if you’d take that one line out. It’s really going to make our life hard over here.’ As soon as they say that, there’s just something in my brain that goes, ‘Must keep line! Precious!’ And then as soon as the fog of war lifts and you have a second thought, it’s like, ‘Of course I can take that out. Can I say something about Pinocchio instead? And the answer is yes!”
It is interesting to speculate what this particular line might have been, considering that the theatrical cut of Deadpool & Wolverine included references to Kevin Feige not wanting any discussion of cocaine and jabs that Disney was going to keep Hugh Jackman under contract as Logan until he was 90. Well, that last one might be true.
Do you think Bob Iger really asked for a line to be cut or is this more of Ryan Reynolds’ faux-cheeky banter?