Filmmaker Shawn Levy is set to reunite with Ryan Reynolds on the anticipated superhero sequel, Deadpool 3. The helmer is in negotiations to direct the actor in the third installment of the popular Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Deadpool 3 will mark the third collaboration between Levy and Reynolds, after they previously worked together on the hit action comedy, Free Guy, which was released in theaters last summer by 20th Century Studios. The duo also collaborated together on the sci-fi-action-a comedy, The Adam Project, which debuted yesterday on Netflix.
Reynolds also shared the news of Levy joining the Deadpool franchise yesterday on Twitter. The actor captioned an image featuring his characters from Deadpool, The Adam Project and Free Guy by saying: “The third film in my Shawn Levy trilogy will be a tad more stabby.”
The news of Levy and Reynolds’ reunion on Deadpool 3 comes in the wake of the series’ fans asking for another entry since 20th Century released its predecessor in 2018. The upcoming installment will mark the helmer’s debut in the franchise, as its first sequel was directed by David Leitch. The series’ first movie, which broke records when it was distributed in 2016, was helmed by Tim Miller.
Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who penned the scripts for the first two Deadpool films, are currently working on scribing the screenplay for the franchise’s upcoming third entry. Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, who are known for the animated series Bob’s Burgers, previously worked on the script for Deadpool‘s second follow-up.
The screenplay for the franchise’s installments are based on the titular character, who was introduced in the comics by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza. Since its debut in the comic books, Deadpool has become known to be amongst the most mature content in the MCU, and the first two movies are known for continuing that content through their R ratings.
The Deadpool films are the top-grossing X-Men features of all time. The original entry earned $783.1 million, and the first follow-up brought in $785.8 million, at the worldwide box office.
The upcoming project will be the first Deadpool movie to be released after Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, which distributed the first two entries. 20th Century Studios has not yet revealed when it will release Deadpool 3.