Rumors have been swirling about who may and may not appear in “Deadpool & Wolverine” when it hits theaters July 26. “Elektra” star Jennifer Garner, Taylor Swift, characters from the original X-Men trilogy (Halle Berry? James Marsden? Patrick Stewart? Oh my!).
Shawn Levy knows this. He saw the “delight of rumors” stirred up online by Marvel fans and assured that his latest outing with star Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and new-to-the-franchise costar Hugh Jackman returning as Wolverine lives up to the hype and speculation.
He confirmed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly published Tuesday that some rumors are true, some are way off base” — but that ultimately they’re not the point of the movie.
“We didn’t want any of the cameos or characters to be the story of the movie,” Levy said for the outlet’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” cover story. “But they are peppered in throughout. There’s a lot of characters. The internet is a delight of rumors about the multitude of character cameos that are in this movie. Some rumors are true, some are way off base.”
One thing’s for certain: Eager Marvel fans will be lining up in droves to see which cameos ultimately come to fruition. As TheWrap reported Wednesday, the superhero action flick is on track to set a new R-rated box office record with a $160 million opening record start.
That would also mean that the “Deadpool” franchise would have all of the Top 3 R-rated openings as the original 2016 entry currently holds the record with $132.4 million, closely followed by its 2018 sequel “Deadpool 2” at $125.5 million. Anything above $162 million would pass the opening weekend of “Barbie” and would be the highest opening weekend for any film since the $181.3 million start of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” in November 2022.
Presales for “Deadpool & Wolverine” have been extremely high since they began in late May, and exhibitor sources say there’s potential for upside. With longtime comic book movie fans excited to see Ryan Reynolds’ character join the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Hugh Jackman play Wolverine again in a comic-accurate costume, the buzz surrounding the film is quite similar to “Spider-Man: No Way Home” in December 2021.
