Ever since Disney acquired many of Fox’s properties–including all of Marvel’s mutants–one of the biggest questions on Marvel fans’ minds has been about the fate of Deadpool, a decidedly R-rated character, now owned by a PG-rated company. Despite confirmations from star Ryan Reynolds and Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, the film has seemed elusive, but the crew behind the film is slowly growing, and Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy is in talked to direct, Ryan Reynolds confirmed on Twitter after a story from The Hollywood Reporter.
Levy will once again team up Voltron-style with Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds to make the film happen. While Levy is probably best known for Stranger Things, this will mark the third Ryan Reyolds vehicle he’s directing. Previously, Levy helmed Free Guy and the just-released Netflix sci-fi adventure The Adam Project, both of which star Reynolds.
The first Deadpool film, which set records for the box-office performance of an R-rated film at the time, was directed by Tim Miller (Terminator: Dark Fate). The second by John Wick co-director David Leitch.
Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, both of whom have worked extensively on the Bob’s Burgers animated series, were announced as writers in November 2020 and are still reportedly on board.
The next question Disney will need to answer for fans, now that we know Deadpool 3 is definitely happening, is whether or not it will get the coveted R rating. Kevin Feige said last January that it would indeed get that R rating, but Disney’s previous CEO, Bob Iger, hedged his bets more at the time, saying that “there might be room for more of that.” Marvel Studios films have stuck hard to the PG rating up until Eternals, which was rated PG-13 for “some language and brief sexuality.” Deadpool is typically seen by fans as needing an R rating to live up to his full potential, and the first two films definitely earned their R ratings.
Disney has not yet announced a release date for the film.
