The SAG-AFTRA strike is officially underway, meaning that a lot of productions have ground to a halt as a result of actors initiating this labor dispute. While it has been rumored that Gladiator 2 will continue shooting by relying on body doubles and crowds, for the most part, various film projects are now in a holding pattern until this strike is settled. That includes Deadpool 3, though the Ryan Reynolds-led threequel had managed to shoot a fair amount of footage prior to the stoppage.
As shared by Deadline, Deadpool 3 has officially halted production following the decision to move forward with the SAG-AFTRA strike. The outlet shared that this is “the biggest Marvel project to date” to be stopped by the strike, though you can be sure it won’t be the only one. The upcoming Marvel movie began principal photography on May 22, meaning it’d shot for a little over seven full weeks. While that’s certainly not an insignificant amount of time, there’s still a ways to go until all the necessary footage is captured. Since this strike’s only just started and there’s no indication of when it will end, who knows when the cast and crew will be able to resume work.
Deadpool 3’s halt comes a few days after Ryan Reynolds shared a look at himself fully garbed as the Merc with the Mouth and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine wearing his yellow suit. Shortly thereafter, Jackman posted a selfie of himself rocking Wolverine’s signature hairdo, giving fans even more to enjoy as they await for him to reprise the clawed mutant, who hasn’t been seen on the big screen since 2017’s Logan. It’s also been reported that Jackman will play multiple versions of Wolverine in Deadpool 3 rather than just the main one, who will hail from before Logan’s events.
But Wolverine isn’t the only major Marvel character who’s making a grand return. Last week, it was reported that Jennifer Garner will reprise Elektra, whom she first played in 2003’s Daredevil, which was followed by a spinoff centered on the sai-wielding assassin two years later. That casting update came a few weeks after it was rumored that Ben Affleck visited the Deadpool 3 set, which naturally prompted speculation that he’s reprising Matt Murdock. Additionally, X-Men like Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm will allegedly appear too, so taking all that information into account, this threequel sounds like it will be a multiversal story centered around the 20th Century Fox era of Marvel movies.
The Deadpool 3 cast also includes familiar faces like Morena Baccarin, Brianna Hildebrand, Leslie Uggams and Karan Soni, and newcomers like Emma Corrin and Matthew Macfayden. Shawn Levy is directing the feature, having previously worked with Ryan Reynolds on Free Guy and The Adam Project, and Hugh Jackman on Real Steel. In addition to Reynolds once again writing with Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Levy and Zeb Wells have also been working on the script.
Although Deadpool 3 currently has a May 3, 2024 release date, depending on how long the SAG-AFTRA strike goes, it may need to be delayed. If that happens, CinemaBlend will let you know. For now though, you’re welcome to stream the first two Deadpool movies with your Disney+ subscription.
