Yahoo Lifestyle Kevin Feige says 'it's a badge of honor' to be mocked by Deadpool (exclusive)
"Ryan Reynolds always puts it this way: Deadpool only punches up," the Marvel Studios chief tells Entertainment Weekly.
With Deadpool & Wolverine headed to theaters this coming weekend, no one can say that Marvel Studios (and its chief executive) doesn't have a sense of humor about themselves. Introducing Ryan Reynolds' Merc with a Mouth into the Marvel Cinematic Universe was logistically complicated (thanks to the years-long legal process needed to iron out the Disney-Fox merger) but also presented a tonal challenge.
After all, Deadpool is well-known for his cutting humor that often targets the very stories he's in, and his latest cinematic outing is no exception. Trailers and early footage from Deadpool & Wolverine have made clear that the titular character mocks his new home studio.
But that's all part of the plan. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige says he gave Reynolds, director Shawn Levy, and the rest of the Deadpool & Wolverine filmmaking team "a lot of room" to poke fun at both himself personally and Disney generally.
"First of all, it's a badge of honor to have Deadpool make fun of you," Feige says. "He makes fun of Ryan Reynolds all the time. How could you tell Ryan Reynolds it's okay to make fun of yourself but don't make fun of us? And Ryan always puts it this way: Deadpool always punches up at the bigger guys. He's never punching down in a mean way. Nothing Deadpool does ever seems malicious in a way. It seems more like his opinion or a truth that is hard to acknowledge, but he can do it. It was always part of the deal."
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This is not the first time Feige has been directly mentioned in the MCU. The finale episode of She-Hulk saw Tatiana Maslany's green superhero (another Marvel character who loves to break the fourth wall) encounter a robot named K.E.V.I.N., who was manipulating events behind the scenes.
In the pages of Marvel comics, Feige also made a self-aware cameo in the first X-Men Hellfire Gala issue back in 2021. That appearance alluded to the eventual entry of mutants into the MCU, a time that has finally arrived this year with both Deadpool & Wolverine and the recent animated series X-Men '97. It's big for Marvel Studios and a full-circle moment for Feige personally.
"It's pretty wonderful having access to these characters that I started my career with at Marvel, before Marvel Studios, and being a big part of those first two X-Men movies," Feige says. "Certainly, on a personal level with Hugh, but also on a creative level with all of these characters, it is an embarrassment of riches."
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.
