A new look at the Deadpool & Wolverine script has revealed the inappropriate joke that Disney had cut from the film.
The dialogue comes from the scene where Ryan Reynolds‘ Deadpool meets Elektra, Gambit and Blade at their hideout in The Void, before asking them if the fourth unknown member is Magneto.
When Blade – named Billy in the script to prevent the cameo being leaked – tells Deadpool that Magneto is dead, the Merc with the Mouth replies: “What, we can’t even afford one more X-Man? Disney is so cheap. I can barely breathe with all this Mickey Mouse cock in my throat.”
— ScreenTime (@screentime) November 29, 2024
Reynolds previously told Collider that there was a back-and-forth with Disney over taking out one particular joke in Deadpool & Wolverine. The joke was never named, but Reynolds didn’t object to removing it.
“There was a note about this one line, and I’ll say this, which is that I was asked to take the line out,” he said. “I was not even mandated to take the line out. To quote someone in a very high position of leadership at Disney, ‘I’m in for a penny, I’m in for a pound. And if you take it out, I’d love it. If you don’t, I will still love and support you, this movie and all the hard work that went into it.’”
Reynolds added: “So, come on. At that point you go, ‘Do I want to stick with pride? Do I care? Am I going to die on a hill over one joke?’ Look, the answer is of course I’m going to die on a hill over one joke, but then you sober up a few weeks later.”
Elsewhere, Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy recently revealed that the film’s ending was tweaked after Reynolds’ wife Blake Lively offered a note.
During the film’s climax, the titular heroes’ fates are left in question for some time after they seemingly sacrifice themselves to save the multiverse. However, according to Levy, the original ending wasn’t as suspenseful about their survival.
Levy explained to GamesRadar: “It used to be that there was no suspense, that the power room blew up, and our heroes had survived. And it was Blake Lively who said to us, ‘You know, I’ve been with you this whole movie. I want to sit in the fear that they’re lost. Let me be in that place of suspense so the triumph of their survival is more emotional and visceral.’”
the director continued: “That was a Blake note and it really opened up a new way of thinking about this part of the movie and it’s why we did this reshoot… and, here, the payoff is so much more satisfying.”
In a three-star review of Deadpool & Wolverine, NME wrote: “Despite the A-list distractions (no spoilers here), Deadpool & Wolverine is really all about Reynolds and Jackman. In fact, it’s really all about Reynolds – with Jackman doing a heroic job of playing the surly straight man trying to keep up with Reynolds’ sweary killer clown. The first two Deadpool films were funny and violent and original, but this one shows Marvel’s most gloriously inappropriate superhero at his very best and worst.”