Ryan Reynolds is bidding farewell to the “fun, weird, uneven and risky world” that was 20th Century Fox’s Marvel movies.
The studio, which was acquired by Disney in 2019, was home to the first two “Deadpool” films, starring Reynolds as the wisecracking anti-hero with whom he’s become synonymous. 20th Century Fox produced 18 Marvel adaptations over the years, including the “X-Men” installments with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, “Fantastic Four” and “Daredevil.” The third “Deadpool” entry, titled “Deadpool & Wolverine,” is significant because it ushers the comic book characters that were previously licensed to 20th Century Fox into Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Related Stories
Reynolds on Sunday shared a cast photo from 2015 with some of the biggest stars from 20th Century Fox’s Marvel era, including at least one actor (Channing Tatum as Gambit) whose film never saw the light of day. Along with Reynolds and Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), James McAvoy (Professor Charles Xavier), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Miles Teller (Mr. Fantastic) and Evan Peters (Quicksilver) are featured in the picture. As Reynolds alludes in the caption, the movies that spotlighted these characters weren’t all critical or commercial winners. But, he says, “we wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Popular on Variety
“This isn’t just Deadpool saying ‘Oh, Hello’ to the MCU. It’s Deadpool – and Hugh, Shawn [Levy] and me – saying farewell to a place and an era that literally made us,” Reynolds wrote on Instagram. “We are forever grateful to the fun, weird, uneven and risky world of 20th Century Fox. It was our origin story and we wouldn’t trade it for anything. And thank you to Kevin Feige and Disney for allowing us to share it.”
“Deadpool & Wolverine,” directed by Shawn Levy and co-starring Reynolds and Jackman, crushed box office expectations with $211 million in North America and $438 million globally. Those ticket sales rank as the biggest opening weekend of the year, the largest ever for an R-rated film and the sixth-best domestic debut of all time.
“This is kind of hard to process,” Reynolds shared on Instagram after opening weekend. “But thank you to everyone who went to see the film this weekend.”
VIP+ Analysis: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Underscores MCU’s Much-Needed Evolution
