Superhero movies have a complicated relationship with the Academy Awards. Typically, their nominations tend to be for more technical categories, such as Best Visual Effects. A notable exception to this wasBlack Pantherreceiving a nod for Best Picture. Even so, the minds behindDeadpool & Wolverinediscussed whether the MCU’s first R-rated outingcould be an Oscars contender, specifically in the “Best Adapted Screenplay” category.
Speaking withIndieWire, director Shawn Levy explained:
“There’s this presumption, because the movie has a bouncy, naturalistic flow to it that, ‘Oh, we’re just finding it through improvisation, and we’re trying stuff out on set.’ And certainly, there’s a little bit of that, but we refuse to go into production without a script that is honestly 95 percent reflective of the movie that everyone’s seen, and it really was the outgrowth of a long, long writing process.”
For his part,Deadpool & Wolverine’swriter and star Ryan Reynolds explained howboiling the film down to a comedy is a disservice to its broader themes.He further elaborated:
“Many of the alt jokes are written in advance. One thing that’s against it [in the awards space] is that a lot of people consider it a comedy. That’s fair, but it has a backbone that is emotion and warmth. Comedy and drama both subsist on tension. Certainly comedy is designed to set up an expectation and then come 90 degrees to it or subvert it. Somehow, you’re able to do that so much more when you have dramatic stakes. When these two feelings are working in concert with each other, it allows you so much more leeway.”
“And going into the movie, we felt we had a lot to prove to Marvel and Disney. It’s the first big Fox property, after Disney bought the studio, to be R-rated. We had to write a movie that was a four- quadrant R-rated movie. That’s a hard thing to do. In order to do that, I’m not a big poetry person, but Keats talks about all the stitching and unstitching you do to make it feel like a moment’s thought. And that’s what is.”
Levy doubled down on Reynolds' words, stating that they “spent seven months trying to come up with the story, because the jokes are the least of our worries.” Per Reynolds, theDeadpoolcreative team simply wrote “a drama with the stakes that a drama would have"and”[worked] with comedy later." He explained:
“It’s counterintuitive, because everyone’s expecting us to find different ways to be subversive in comedy. And that’s later, that’s easier, once we have the emotional side of it, then you do the task of building in the comedy, which is so difficult to do and to get right.”
What Reynolds And Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine Comments Mean
Reynolds and Levy’s statements exhibit thatDeadpool & Wolverinehad genuine care put into the quality of its story and dialogue.As such, they seem to imply the film should be taken as seriously as any other, despite being a superhero film with a largely comedic tone. Genre films traditionally under-perform during rewards season. Because these movies—specifically of the super variety—are lucrative and popular, their artistic merit is overlooked. InDeadpool & Wolverine’scase, the MCU project was designed with heart and a desire to tell a meaningful story.
Hugh Jackman’s Reaction To Seeing My Favorite Deadpool & Wolverine Fight Scene For The First Time Makes It Even Better
The behind the scenes story behind one Deadpool & Wolverine fight makes it even more iconic thanks to Hugh Jackman and his initial reaction to it.
Deadpool & Wolverineis more than a superhero blockbuster; it’s a tribute to an era of film wrapped up in a story about middle age and life purpose.Both Wade and Logan have lost their way at the start of the movie and find it over the course of the narrative. Of course, Deadpool’s signature irreverence permeates the film, but there are still emotional moments.
Our Take On Reynolds And Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine Comments
The Academy Awards are considered the most prestigious in the Hollywood film industry. However, its blindspot for genre films means that some deserving directors, writers, actors and more do not receive fair consideration for their work. That being said, the Oscars are not a popularity contest—just because a film is a box office success does not make it critically superior. Regardless,Deadpool & Wolverineand other superhero films deserve equal consideration for awards as those of any other genre.
Deadpool & Wolverine
Cast
A follow-up to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 films starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
