Shawn Levy is in talks to direct Ryan Reynolds in “Deadpool 3” for Marvel Studios.
Levy recently directed Reynolds in “Free Guy” and “The Adam Project.”
Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are currently writing the script for the third installment. Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin (“Bob’s Burgers”) wrote the previous draft.
On Friday, Reynolds tweeted about the news saying, “The third film in my Shawn Levy trilogy will be a tad more stabby.”
This marks the first film where Marvel Studios will work in partnership with Ryan Reynolds and Team Deadpool. The sequel is expected to be R-rated like the previous two “Deadpool” installments, which would be a first for Marvel Studios.
“Deadpool” is among the most successful Fox IP that Marvel Studios inherited, along with the “Fantastic Four” and “X-Men” franchises. “Deadpool 2,” released in 2018, earned $785 in worldwide box office and was the highest-grossing R-rated film until 2019’s “Joker” topped it at $1.074 billion.
In 2016’s “Deadpool,” Reynolds won over audiences with his snarky, fourth-wall-shattering jokes that referenced other superhero films. In a moviegoing culture where superheroes are king, that quality earned the character perpetual relevance. Reynolds has taken advantage of that over the past few years by firing out tweets about whatever superhero blockbuster had just come out, often with the same meta-humor his mutant alter-ego is known for — to the point where the line between actor and character have become blurred. And if you’ve seen “Deadpool 2,” you know that line-blurring leads to hilarious results in the film’s post-credits scene, where Reynolds quite literally turns Deadpool’s acerbic wit on himself.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.