Ryan Reynolds has revealed how he once pitched Disney a Deadpool-Bambi crossover film. Keeping with the tradition of the comics, Reynolds brought his signature irreverence to his 2016 live-action depiction of the Merc with a Mouth. Deadpool’s profanity, outlandish violence, and fourth-wall-breaking jokes not only fit Reynolds like a glove but grossed $783 million at the worldwide box office and became one of the highest-grossing R-rated films ever. Its sequel, the aptly-titled Deadpool 2 (2018), was similarly successful, introduced to X-Force, and begged for a third installment.
Like the X-Men and his fellow mutants, Deadpool was owned by Fox prior to the Disney merger—which brought those characters under the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s umbrella. The Mouse House’s acquisition then put Deadpool 3 in development limbo. However, Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige has since said that Deadpool, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four, will enter the universe at some point in the future. Reinforcing this intent, Reynolds recently made a pseudo-MCU debut in a promo for Free Guy with Thor: Ragnarok‘s Korg (Taika Waititi).
In an interview with IGN, Reynolds talked about his initial crossover pitch to Disney before suggesting Deadpool and Korg react to the Free Guy trailer. The idea revolved around a short where Deadpool interrogates the hunter who killed Bambi’s mom. Read what he had to say below:
"I wanted to do a short film of Deadpool interrogating the hunter who killed Bambi's mom," said Reynolds. "But the whole gist of it is that Deadpool is actually just a huge fan. He's not interrogating — he just wants to know how he could be the most loathed Disney character in the history of Disney... and of course, Disney was like, 'well, I don't think that's ever going to happen.'"
Reynolds has previously joked that Deadpool's mission in the third film would be to track down the hunter who killed Bambi's mom—clearly he's committed to the idea. Following Disney's initial rejection, Reynolds and his team wrote the Deadpool-Korg piece. After Disney promptly approved of “Deadpool Maximum Reactions," Reynolds called Waititi, who he worked with on Free Guy. In addition to playing Korg in the MCU, Waititi also directed Thor: Ragnarok and helmed the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. Reynolds called putting Deadpool and Korg together “amazing” and has also said he’s "70 percent" certain Deadpool 3 will start filming next year.
While Reynolds’ Deadpool-Bambi pitch is in line with his character and, frankly, hilarious, it’s easy to understand why Disney wouldn’t want their new anti-hero praising one of cinema’s most detestable figures. It certainly isn’t the best way to introduce Deadpool to the MCU. The promo for Free Guy, however, showed that Disney is open to incorporating the Merc with a Mouth in a variety of different ways (hopefully). The meta nature of Reynolds’ character could facilitate the implementation of mutants or the retconning of plot holes. As for his profanity, it’s not hard to imagine Deadpool being censored as he inevitably cameos throughout the MCU’s multiverse. That said, Deadpool 3 is set to be the studios’ first R-rated film.
Source: IGN
