Deadpool is an extremely aware superhero, so aware that he is actually able to see beyond his own cinematic universe into others and into our real world, often breaking the fourth wall to talk to the audience. One thing the merc with a mouth is a big fan of is making fun of Hugh Jackman and his superhero counterpart, Wolverine. Apparently, Reynolds was extremely dedicated to ensuring these jokes got into the film right from the get-go.
Reynolds and Jackman have been engaged in a lovable pseudo feud for some time now. It seemingly originated from when the actor first played Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine back in 2008, and it didn’t end there. This feud continued with the Deadpool movies and apparently, Reynolds is the reason behind it as storyboard artist, Jay Oliva has shared an image on Twitter to project how determined the Free Guy star was to make jokes at Jackman’s expense.
The image shows the storyboard artwork for a scene towards the end of the film, where Deadpool’s romantic interest lifts off his mask (à la Spider-Man), only to find he has stapled a picture of Jackman’s face to his own. They even used the same picture of Jackman in the film as they originally did in the storyboard.
Not only does Reynolds troll Jackman within the films, he constantly roasts X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a film which was panned by critics and fans. It saw a vastly different Deadpool, who is completely altered and has his mouth sealed shut as he goes up against Wolverine. In fact, this version is so detested that the superhero went full meta in his last outing as the merc with a mouth as he used Cable’s time travelling device to kill the Deadpool in the X-Men film.
Despite their friendship starting with a film Reynolds dislikes so much, the two Marvel actors have a lot of love for each other, with their barbs and jabs often turning into compliments and praise.
As evidenced above, the two put a lot of effort into their fake fights, and the internet loves it. In fact, director Shawn Levy, who directed Reynolds in The Adam Project, Free Guy and will be directing Deadpool 3, is determined to get the duo in a film together, so maybe we can see some of that chemistry on the big screen soon.