“Deadpool & Wolverine” may finally be in theaters, but stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have postponed their biggest press tour yet. The duo showed up at San Diego Comic-Con, along with co-star Emma Corrin and director Shawn Levy, to give a surprise screening of the film to the audience on the same day it hits the big screen around the world. Warning: There are spoilers below.
The special event, dubbed “The Ultimate Celebration of the Lives of Deadpool and Wolverine,” came at the end of a particularly busy day for Reynolds, Jackman and Levy, who traveled to San Diego from Los Angeles following a Walk of Fame ceremony hosted by Marvel's chief creative officer Kevin Feige earlier in the day.
Reynolds, Jackman, Korine, Levy and Feige took the stage one by one as if they were at a regular Comic-Con convention, before calling out a clip of co-star Leslie Uggams saying, “Stop, let's skip the bullshit and just show the damn movie!”
“I remember being the most nervous person you’ve ever seen. Coming here with Deadpool 1. I was stepping into a dream come true in a sense, but I remember making this movie for you guys, and I remember how fulfilled everybody felt as well,” Reynolds told the crowd before the surprise announcement of the screening, recalling his experience in Hall H with the Deadpool franchise over the years. “I feel like I was able to connect with you guys in a way that I’ve really been yearning for. And we showed the footage and the audience screamed for the footage again. And I’ll never forget that moment, because that idiot was backstage,” he said, referring to Jackman.
“I was standing there,” Jackman recalled. “I watched the footage and this chant started: ‘Again, again.’ I ran backstage and found the stage manager, and I said, ‘Play the footage again. If you don’t play the damn footage again, they’re going to tear Hall H down to the ground.’”
Fans who lined up outside Hall H in the hours leading up to the event were rewarded with a special surprise — those highly coveted (and sexually hilarious) buckets of popcorn shaped like Wolverine's head — which were promptly filled with popcorn for the surprise show.
After the two-hour screening, Feige and the rest of the cast returned feeling very happy. “It was an emotional honor and privilege to stand here next to the X-Men (Jackman),” an emotional Reynolds said.
Jackman described watching his film with the entire HAL crew as one of the most amazing experiences of his life. “It’s been 24 years since I first played Wolverine,” he said, thanking Levy and Reynolds profusely.
But the duo didn't want to celebrate alone and invited their entire stellar cast to the stage, including Dafne Keen, Jennifer Garner, Channing Tatum, Wesley Snipes, and Chris Evans (as the Human Torch, to be exact).
The “Deadpool & Wolverine” celebration is the first of two for Marvel Studios’ takeover of Hall H. Feige will return Saturday for a presentation that is expected to include first looks at upcoming films like “Thunderbolts” and “The Fantastic Four.”
“Deadpool & Wolverine,” which also stars Morena Baccarin, Robert Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni and Matthew Macfadyen, is expected to smash box office records this weekend. Early projections suggest the superhero sequel will take in between $160 million and $170 million from 4,200 North American theaters, breaking the record for an R-rated film (currently held by 2016’s “Deadpool,” which opened to $132 million). However, the buzz around the film (especially talk of a surprise cameo) could push the three-day tally to $190 million to $200 million. (Disney spent about $200 million to produce the film and another $100 million to promote it.)
The film was produced by Feige, Reynolds, Levy, and Lauren Shuler Donner, and co-produced by Louis D'Esposito, Wendy Jacobson, George Dewey, Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Simon Kinberg. Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, and Levy wrote “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
