Next year marks the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, which, as one knows from going through the Star Wars movies in order, marked the conclusion of the Original Trilogy set in a galaxy far, far away. All this time later, and like its two predecessors, the third Star Wars movie is still beloved by many. In Shawn Levy’s case, it’s also influential, as the director of next year’s Deadpool 3 has revealed that it inspired the Ryan Reynolds-led threquel in a specific way, and now I’m excited to see it.
Levy, whose other credits include Real Steel, Free Guy and The Adam Project, chatted with Esquire, among other things, about the moviegoing experience, and he kicked off this portion of the conversation recalling repeatedly seeing Return of the Jedi as a kid. The filmmaker was specifically enamored with the part of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader’s duel when the latter threatened to turn Leia to the dark side, prompting the former to start brutally attacking his father. Four decades later, Levy turned to this scene as inspiration for an important moment in Deadpool 3, saying:
