Kevin Feige Rejected Ryan Reynolds’ Original Deadpool & Wolverine Idea

Ryan Reynolds‘ original idea for Deadpool & Wolverine was shot down by Marvel Studios‘ Kevin Feige prior to the “Merc with a Mouth” making his way into the MCU.

Speaking to Empire Magazine, Feige recalled the very first pitch that Reynolds gave him for the movie, which would see three different versions of the same story being told.

Feige described it as a “Rashomon story about Wolverine and Deadpool and something that they got into together, but told from three completely different perspectives. It was a way to make a large-scale movie in a very small way.”

However, the pitch was rejected because, in Feige’s words, he wasn’t even ready for Deadpool to make his MCU debut. “The truth is, I wasn’t even sure how to incorporate Deadpool yet. I was very much thinking about how to bring mutants and the X-Men into [the MCU], and I thought it needed to be more than just playing the hits,” said Feige. “But the truth is, Ryan is an idea machine. So he may have pitched that to me, but he also pitched 25 other thoughts and ideas.”

In the same interview, Reynolds also talked about some of the various ideas he came up with for the film, including one that was “almost like a Sundance film, a budget of under $10 million, sort of using the IP in a way that they previously hadn’t used, and I pitched bigger movies, and I pitched things in-between,” Reynolds said.

What is Deadpool & Wolverine about?

Deadpool & Wolverine reunites lead star Ryan Reynolds with Free Guy and The Adam Project filmmaker Shawn Levy, who has signed on to helm the long-awaited project. Joining Reynolds are Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Garner, who are finally coming out of their superhero retirement to reprise their respective iconic Marvel roles as Wolverine and Elektra.

It will also feature the return of Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Rob Delaney as Peter, Stefan Kapicic as Colossus, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Shioli Kutsuna as Yukio. The movie will also welcome the addition of Marvel newcomers Emma Corrin and Matthew Macfadyen.

The film is written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Zeb Wells from a previous draft by the Molyneux sisters (Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin). It is produced by Reynolds, Levy, and Kevin Feige.