Deadpool is headed to the MCU along with his atomantem clawed frenemy, Wolverine. When the foul-mouthed anti-hero hits the screens, though, he will lack some of the charm that makes him delightfully degenerate.
Deadpool and Deadpool 2 were both R-rated action films with dark humor and famously wicked wit. When Disney purchased Fox, fans were nervous it would mean a watered-down PG-13 Deadpool 3, which would be a disappointment. Disney CEO Bob Iger and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige calmed this fear, though, by confirming that the film would be the MCU’s first R-rated film. However, production has hit a snag no one saw coming that could water the movie down after all.
Ryan Reynolds, the actor behind Marvel’s Deadpool, has famously improvised many of his best lines in Deadpool and Deadpool 2. Now though, his hands are tied. According to recent reports, the actor is not allowed to improvise a single line in DeadPool 3. Co-star Hugh Jackman isn’t either.
As filming gets underway, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Strike is raging on. This means that Reynolds, an officially credited writer in the film, is not allowed to do anything that even resembles writing. That includes improv. While there isn’t technically a rule against actors improvising, there are strict guidelines on writers not being able to change lines during the filming process while the strike is in effect. Reynolds’ writer’s credit on the film means any improv he did would fall into that category.
He could potentially make the argument that the improvisation was done as a performer rather than an actor, but as a writer-producer, things get tricky. The WGA has even stricter rules for “hyphenated roles” such as Reynolds’. These production members are prevented from writing or doing anything “writer-like” during the strike. This prevents Studios from circumventing the writers and making script changes without a Union agreement in place.
Deadpool 3 is the first major project to begin filming during the writers strike. The film is able to proceed because the script was finished before the strike began. It will be an “as-is” script, though, and no changes will be made unless the Union comes to an agreement with Studio bosses before filming is complete. We really hope we get to see Reynolds unless the improv abilities that made the first 2 Deadpool films so very funny.