Marvel has become infamous for their post-credit sequences over the years, and Deadpool & Wolverine—the first of Ryan Reynolds' R-rated franchise to be released under the Disney banner—obviously partook. But while these scenes usually include a tease for whatever film comes next, the 2024 box office phenomenon was… a little different. Spoiler alert, but it's literally just Chris Evans as the Human Torch swearing up a storm. Nothing to preview there, although—if Deadpool & Wolverine's worldwide billion dollar haul is anything to go by—people would probably watch two hours of it anyway.
Despite D&W's obsession with its own meta-narrative (or, in Andrew Garfield's words, its "fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh-, eighth-wall-breaking kind of vibe"), Reynolds resisted the impulse to parody this specific aspect of the MCU for a reason. "I don’t know what the future of Deadpool will be, but I do know that we made the movie to be a complete experience instead of a commercial for another one," the star and head writer told Garfield during their Variety Actors on Actors interview this week. "The character works very well in two ways. One is scarcity and surprise," he explained of the decision not to rush right into a four-quel. The films also "swallow [his] whole life," and he doesn't "ever want to be an absentee [dad]," he continued. (That motivation clearly runs deep; the actor used almost the exact same verbiage while turning down the Oscar-hosting gig last month.)
Reynolds' and Garfield's conversation made waves before it even happened. When the pairing was announced, the internet was quick to express their disappointment over the perceived mismatch. "Andrew Garfield talking about playing a husband and father who’s [sic] wife decides to forgo cancer treatment (in We Live In Time) and Ryan Reynolds talking about playing Deadpool," one (since-deleted) tweet read, prompting the latter to post a long rant in defense of the challenges of comedic acting. In the actual interview, Reynolds further explained why he's mostly been focused on big studio tentpoles in recent years. "I’ve spent a long time doing work and roles that were incredibly fulfilling and nuanced and different and unexpected and charactery and movies that were received really well by critics, but not audiences," he said. "I thought, 'Well, if I want to continue to do this, I have to figure out how to work both sides of the room and make sure that part of my job is choosing work that will beget more of this experience that I love.'" Wherever you stand on Reynolds as an actor, it's hard to deny that that particular mission has been a success.
