Ryan Reynolds Says Disney Drew the Line at Mickey Mouse and Bambi Jokes for DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Deadpool & Wolverine pushed the boundaries of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and apparently it got pretty close to crossing a few red lines with Disney.
Ryan Reynolds recently opened up on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast and shared some of the behind-the-scenes negotiations that happened between him and Disney CEO Bob Iger during production.
As it turns out, not even the Merc with a Mouth could take shots at two sacred subjects: Mickey Mouse and Bambi.
Reynolds recalled the moment Iger told him to cut a specific joke from the film, saying:
“The first time he [Bob Iger] saw the film, it was in pretty good shape, and he said, ‘you got to remove the one line, right?’ And I was like, ‘What line?’ ‘You know the line.’ And I went, ‘Mickey Mouse?’ He was like, ‘yeah.’ I was like, ‘But Bob, the whole movie orbits around that line.’ Like that line is the film, it’s the thrust, the thesis, it’s everything.”
The joke in question had Deadpool saying at one point: “F–k! What, we can’t even afford one more X-Man? Disney is so cheap. I can barely breathe with all this Mickey Mouse c–k in my throat,” after learning Magneto wouldn’t be making a cameo. Reynolds added:
“I really had to kind of walk around his office a little bit, do a couple of laps, and then it was fine. We were good. We switched it up. And he was just, he just didn’t want the Mickey Mouse joke in.”
Reynolds also revealed another rejected idea, one where Deadpool hunts down the man who killed Bambi’s mom.
“This is after they said no to 18 different things. They said, ‘We don’t touch Bambi.’ And I said, ‘You said you don’t touch Mickey Mouse.’ ‘We don’t touch Bambi and we don’t touch Mickey Mouse.’”
Despite those hard lines, the creative team clearly had plenty of room to play. The film debuted with a massive $211 million domestic opening and eventually raked in over $1.3 billion globally, making it the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time. It also earned an “A” CinemaScore and won over critics and fans alike.
As for what’s next, Reynolds is already at work on another X-Men movie. “I’m writing something right now… It’s a little ensemble, but I like that he’s isolated,” he shared.
The plan reportedly centers on a movie that includes “three or four” X-Men characters, while letting Deadpool stir the pot from the sidelines. It’s also said that this could be a X-Force movie.
And while fans may hope to see him team up with the Avengers or formally join the X-Men, Reynolds made his stance clear: “If he becomes an Avenger or an X-Man, we’re at the end. That’s his wish fulfillment, and you can’t give him that.”
Deadpool & Wolverine is now streaming on Disney+ and available for purchase on digital platforms.
