‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Director Shawn Levy Breaks Down the Film’s Odd-Couple Influences

Shawn Levy knows that Deadpool & Wolverine make for an unlikely pair. Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a Mouth is a fast-talking, fourth-wall-breaking agent of chaos, while Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is more of the strong, silent, slash-you-with-his-adamantium-claws type. But for Levy, that odd-couple chemistry is what makes them such an irresistible pair.

“They are so mismatched as characters,” Levy tells Marvel.com of his two mutant anti-heroes. “You have a motormouth Deadpool, who’s basically like an ADD-stricken 8-year-old boy in a Super Hero body. And you have Logan, this haunted, largely nonverbal, angry man. Those characters don’t belong together. They would never choose to be together. Certainly, Wolverine would not choose to spend a moment with Deadpool."

Levy serves as both a producer and a writer on the film, which follows Deadpool as he journeys through the multiverse, recruiting a down-on-his-luck Wolverine to help him save his friends. Early in the development process, Levy and Reynolds found themselves revisiting classic odd-couple movies, particularly those set in the buddy-cop or road-trip genres.

“Frankly, even more than we were looking at Super Hero movies, we were looking at movies like Midnight Run and 48 Hrs. and Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” the director explains. “Movies where you have a mismatched duo forced together by circumstance and ultimately, something of a friendship develops between these two characters.”

In addition to looking at classic films, Levy also found inspiration in the pages of Marvel comics. He pored over iconic issues featuring Deadpool and Wolverine, both separately and together, and he points to the DEADPOOL CORPS series as a particular favorite. (That series follows Deadpool as he teams up with different variants, including Lady Deadpool and Dogpool.) 

“I must have read at least 100 issues of the comics while I was writing with Ryan and prepping the movie,” the director says. “I had asked Marvel to just bury me in comics, and they did. I would just read them all the time.”

Deadpool and Wolverine may not always get along on screen, but in real life, Reynolds, Jackman, and Levy are fast friends, with Jackman referring to them as the “Three Amigos.” (Levy previously directed Jackman in 2011’s Real Steel and Reynolds in 2021’s Free Guy and 2022’s The Adam Project.) Together, they leaned into that camaraderie on set, pitching goofy jokes and improvising between takes.

The result is a zippy action-adventure that bounces around the multiverse. But even amongst all the comedy and chaos, Levy wanted to ground the film in real emotion, exploring both characters’ insecurities and similarities. After all, he notes, the emotional core of a Deadpool & Wolverine movie should always be, well, Deadpool and Wolverine.

“Those are real-world characters,” Levy says. “They don’t have magic powers. They aren’t from space or another dimension. They are from Earth, and their powers are raw and gritty and authentic to real life. So yes, we’re playing with a premise and characters and settings that are larger than life, but these are anti-heroes who are Earth-bound. I wanted the style of the movie to be fun and visually captivating, but always feel a little gritty.”

Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters July 26.