“Deadpool & Wolverine” may have finally been released in theaters, but stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman saved their biggest press tour stop for last. The pair rolled into San Diego Comic-Con, alongside co-star Emma Corrin and director Shawn Levy, to present the Hall H audience with a surprise screening of the film on the same day that it hits the big screen around the world. Warning: spoiler-talk below.
The special event, dubbed “The Ultimate Deadpool & Wolverine Celebration of Life,” came at the end of a particularly busy day for Reynolds, Jackman and Levy, who jetted to San Diego from Los Angeles following Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige’s Walk of Fame Ceremony earlier in the day.
Reynolds, Jackman, Corrin, Levy and Feige took the stage one-by-one as if it were a normal Comic-Con panel, before calling to a clip of co-star Leslie Uggams saying “cut we skip the bullshit and just show the damn movie!”
“I remember, I was the most nervous human being you would ever see. I was coming here with ‘Deadpool 1.’ I was stepping into a dream come true in a certain sense, but I remember making that movie for you, and I remember how gratifying It was that everyone else liked it too,” Reynolds told the crowd ahead of the surprise screening announcement, recalling his Hall H experience with the “Deadpool” series over the years. “I feel like I was able to connect with you in a way that I’d really kind of been yearning to connect. And we showed the footage and the audience screamed one more time for the footage. And I’ll never forget this moment, because this asshole was backstage,” indicating Jackman.
“I was standing just over there,” Jackman recalled. “I watched the footage and there was this chant that started up: ‘One more time, one more time.’ I ran backstage and I found that the stage manager, and I said, ‘Play the footage again. If you don’t play the fucking footage again, they are going to tear Hall H to the ground.’”
Fans who lined up outside Hall H in the hours before the event were rewarded with a special surprise — those highly-coveted (and hilariously sexual) Wolverine-head popcorn buckets — which were promptly filled with popcorn for the surprise screening.
Shortly after the two-hour screening, the cast returned, this time with a collection of spoiler-rific cameo stars, including Dafne Keen, Jennifer Garner, Channing Tatum, Wesley Snipes, and Chris Evans (as Human Torch, specifically). An emotional Reynolds said it was an “emotional honor and a privilege to be standing up here next to the X-Men (Jackman).”
Jackman called watching his film with all of Hall H one of the most incredible experiences of his life. “It’s been 24 years since I first played Wolverine.” He profusely thanked Levy and Reynolds.
The “Deadpool & Wolverine” celebration is the first of two Hall H takeovers from Marvel Studios. Feige will be back on Saturday for a presentation that’s expected to include the first looks of upcoming films like “Thunderbolts*” and “The Fantastic Four.”
“Deadpool & Wolverine” — which also stars Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni and Matthew Macfadyen — is projected to break records at the box office this weekend. Early projections have the superhero sequel earning between $160 million to $170 million from 4,200 North American theaters, shattering the record for an R-rated movie (currently held by 2016’s “Deadpool,” which opened to $132 million). However, buzz around the film (especially talk of surprise cameos) could propel the three-day tally to $190 to $200 million. (Disney spent about $200 million to produce and roughly another $100 million to promote the movie.)
Feige, Reynolds, Levy and Lauren Shuler Donner produced the film with Louis D’Esposito, Wendy Jacobson, George Dewey, Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and Simon Kinberg serving as executive producers. “Deadpool & Wolverine” is written by Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells and Levy.
