Shawn Levy Talks Chris Evans' Post-Credits Scene and His Original Kidpool Casting Plans for DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Director Shawn Levy had a lot of ideas for characters and storylines when it came to his recent hit Marvel film, Deadpool & Wolverine. He and Ryan Reynolds threw a lot against the wall, and what stuck was the great movie they produced, full of cameos and nods to the fans, all while telling a solid story.
One of those fun character cameos was made by Chris Evans, who we know in the MCU as Captain America, only this appearance was a call back to his pre-MCU role of Johnny Storm in the early Fantastic Four films.
As for how difficult it was to get Evans to go on the foul-mouthed post-credits scene rant we all enjoyed, Levy raves about Evans’s process, telling EW:
“We expected that Chris might need a bunch of takes because that was a page of super dirty, mile-a-minute language. Chris came in, was off book, banged it out in two takes, had us pissing with laughter, and that's what you see in the movie.
“I think Chris had a blast, and I know our movie benefits from Chris playing Johnny very differently from Cap. Gone is the righteous nobility and cleanliness of Captain America. This is a Boston-inflected, Chris Evans-inspired Johnny Storm.
“I feel like it's more Chris than the original Chris Evans. Chris is a Boston boy. I'd have to go back and watch the original Fantastic Four, but I don't think he played Johnny as the Boston boy that he did in Deadpool & Wolverine — and to me it is perfection.”
That’s awesome! Evans was great in the movie, and it’s cool that he had so much fun making it. Others who had fun making it were near the whole Reynolds/Lively clan. Ryan Reynolds’s wife, actress Blake Lively, played the part of Lady Deadpool in the film, and two of their kids took on roles of Kidpool and Babypool.
It was a family affair. But there was one kid who Levy and Reynolds had originally considered for the role of Kidpool, and Levy talked about it in the interview, saying:
“If Walker Scobell had stopped evolving right before puberty, he absolutely would've been Kidpool. It was his dream. Ryan and I reached out to him once we realized he was now going to be too old, both too tall and with his voice too low.
“Puberty is what it is, and all the Hollywood dreams in the world can't stop it. So we did call Walker and explain why he couldn't be Kidpool, and he was completely understanding.
“My long reunion hug with Walker at the premiere in New York was one of my favorite parts of that whole night.”
Walker Scobell starred in Levy’s 2022 action adventure film The Adam Project opposite Reynolds, so he was close with the filmmaker and star. It would have been fun for them to reunite in this pic, but unfortunately, time got the best of the young actor.
It all worked out great though, and Deadpool & Wolverine is some of the most fun you’ll have at the theatre this year.