Hugh Jackman knew Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds would hit it off when they met.
In a conversation with People at CinemaCon, the director revealed that Jackman predicted Levy and Reynolds would be friends years before the duo actually sat down together for the first time.
The Deadpool & Wolverine helmer shared that he and the Logan star initially talked about Reynolds on the set of Levy’s 2011 movie, Real Steel, which starred Jackman. “Hugh said, ‘For what it’s worth, if you ever meet and work with Ryan Reynolds, you’re never going to stop,’” he recalled, adding with a smile, “That was 2010. Hugh Jackman, the prophet — a little-known special talent.”
Levy opened up about meeting The Adam Project star for the first time, explaining they had originally connected about a film they didn’t end up making, and their connection was almost immediate.
“We just had an ease with each other,” he said. “But it really, really manifested on our first time [sitting] down to talk about Free Guy. It was a script that was about video gaming, but we had other themes and messages in mind. And we just connected in terms of wanting to give audiences a movie that transports them, makes them laugh and isn’t embarrassed about being big-hearted.”
Today, the duo, who have worked together on several projects over the last few years, spend a lot of time together, considering they live down the street from one another in New York City. Levy noted he’s spent more time with Reynolds than he has with any male friend since high school. “It’s all very intertwined, which makes it very convenient for two guys who work as hard as we do,” he said.
Up next, Levy and Reynolds will work with their mutual friend, Jackman, in Marvel’s upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine, which is set to hit theaters this summer and sees the X-Men star come out of retirement as the clawed superhero. CinemaCon audiences got a look at nine minutes of footage from the third film in the Deadpool franchise.
The first trailer for the project, which debuted during the Super Bowl and broke the record for the most-watched trailer of all time, confirmed that the Time Variance Authority introduced in Disney+’s Loki will play a key role in the film.
Deadpool & Wolverine marks Marvel Studios‘ first R-rated movie and the first franchise coming over from its acquisition of 20th Century Fox. (Fantastic Four will be the second and comes out next year.)