It’s official, the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike is over. On November 9 at 12:01 am, the labor battle between these actors and the AMPTP wrapped up, meaning that Hollywood’s film and TV productions can finally resume (excluding the handful that were already happening due to special agreements). In the case of next year’s Deadpool 3, one of the many highly-anticipated upcoming Marvel movies, there’s reportedly already a plan in motion to get cameras rolling again, and I’m surprised by how soon this could happen.
Less than 12 hours after the actors strike officially reached its end, Variety has heard from its sources that the Deadpool 3 team plans to resume production before Thanksgiving, which, at the time of this writing, is exactly two weeks away. What’s unclear is if this means filming will get back off the ground as soon as early next week, or if the cast and crew will only shoot for a few days, then take a quick break to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, and then resume work for the rest of November and much of December.
In any case, this is a pretty quick turnaround, especially considering that it had previously been reported that even if the actors strike were to end soon, Deadpool 3 wasn’t expected to resume filming until January. I’m curious about the logistics of getting this operation restarted so quickly, but assuming this update is accurate, then this should excite fans who are eager to see the Merc with the Mouth’s threequel. Deadpool 3 began principal photography on May 22 in London and was steadily rolling along until the actors strike began on July 14. Director Shawn Levy shared that half the movie had been shot up to that point.
Variety’s report comes hours after Ryan Reynolds shared that Dogpool will appear in the movie, whom is a bonkers character even by Deadpool standards. Other confirmed members of the Deadpool 3 cast include Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Morena Baccarin as Vanessa and Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, but various Deadpool 3 rumors and reports have also indicated we’ll reunite with other characters from the Fox-era Marvel movies, including Jennifer Garner’s Elektra.
As far as the release plan goes, Deadpool 3 is still officially slated for May 3, 2024. However, even if filming does resume in the coming days, it’s hard to say if the threequel can still be finished by that date. In the aforementioned Dogpool post, Reynolds only said that the movie is coming in “summer 2024,” which might mean it will be pushed back later into the season. In fact, it was reported in mid-October that Deadpool 3 and Captain America: Brave New World could swap dates, meaning the former would instead be released on July 26, 2024.
We’ll keep you apprised on how the Deadpool 3 creative process is going as more updates come in, but for now, remember that you can stream the first two Deadpool movies, as well as the majority of the Marvel movies in order and the MCU’s TV shows, with a Disney+ subscription.