Director Shawn Levy (Sort Of) Keeps Mum About 'Deadpool 3' Rumor

Director Shawn Levy (“Stranger Things“) and actor Ryan Reynolds are out promoting their new sci-fi action comedy “Free Guy,” a rare studio blockbuster based on an original idea. They had recently reunited for the time-traveling Netflix pic “The Adam Project,” their close working relationship has fans curious if Levy might be considered to direct “Deadpool 3,” the R-rated sequel that might end being the first big “X-Men” film to be made under the creative control of Marvel Studios.

During an interview with Inverse, Shawn Levy was directly asked about an online rumbling that he might end up making “Deadpool 3” and if he’d be interested in working with Marvel, his response seemed to tease the possibility.

Levy coyly responds to their question with a potential hint he might be in the mix for the directing job. “I’m going to mostly skirt that question, which might be an answer. But I’ll answer the last part of it, which is: I’m a fan,” he said. “I’m a fan of Deadpool, like a massive fan. And I’m a fan of the Marvel Universe and the way in which increasingly, individual filmmakers of real note can make and express with their own voice and vision through that franchise behemoth, whether it’s what Taika did with ‘Ragnarok,’ what ‘Eternals‘ is going to be, what James Gunn did with ‘Guardians.’ These are real films that also happen to be Marvel movies.”

“So for the right title — because I only raised my hand on stuff where I know what to do with that, and there’s a few where I feel I know what to do with that. So we’ll see,” the filmmaker teased interest in helming a Marvel project like “Deadpool 3.”

Dunno about you, but that sounds like a response by someone who has at least had some conversations with Reynolds about the possibility of making the film. Deadpool has been a large part of the marketing campaign for “Free Guy” as Ryan and co-star Taika Waititi did a viral reaction video (See below) with Taika playing his MCU role, Korg, from “Thor: Ragnarok” and the upcoming “Thor: Love & Thunder.”

Yesterday, Ryan Reynolds gave a vague production update on the film to Collider, suggesting a “70%” chance of cameras rolling sometime in 2022 while also highlighting that they’re still hammering away with the script.

Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige are expected to make another big MCU lineup announcement by the end of the year, and that very well could include them finally revealing release dates for projects like “Deadpool 3,” Jon Watt‘s “Fantastic Four,” and Mahershala Ali‘s “Blade.”