Ever since Deadpool officially became a Disney property, there were concerns that his MCU debut would be missing the edge that the previous two movies had.
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige has always said that wasn't going to be the case, but we wouldn't blame you for having doubts. Shawn Levy also understood that, so knew the opening of Deadpool & Wolverine would be so important.
"You set a tone with the first five minutes of every movie, and maybe it was even more important on this because there were so many questions about would the tone be sanitised? And the answer is an emphatic no," Levy told Digital Spy.
As for how Levy did it in the opening moments of Deadpool 3, you'll have to wait until the movie comes out this week.
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But the director – who also produced and co-wrote the movie – wanted to live up to the "iconic title sequences" of Deadpool and Deadpool 2.
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"I came into this knowing, 'OK, the bar is super high', but then Ryan and I first talked about this idea of, 'What if we start the movie there on that shot and what if Deadpool then does this with those'," he teased.
"We knew it would be bold but we knew it would be a tone-setter and it would tell the audience, as it hopefully did, yeah it's still Deadpool and yeah this movie is built for audacious joy."
As well as not knowing how Deadpool will officially enter the MCU, the movie's villain Cassandra Nova, played by Emma Corrin, is also a bit of a mystery in terms of how Cassandra fits into the narrative.
Related: Emma Corrin reveals Hugh Jackman's advice
Of course, Levy isn't about to reveal all about that, but he did offer up some intriguing information for fans.
"You don't know what Cassandra is gonna do. What's interesting, and we explore in this movie, is whereas Deadpool is this blathering motor mouth, who Cassandra finds occasionally amusing, Cassandra's a little bit captivated by the Wolverine," he noted.
"She senses in Wolverine this reservoir of pain that she herself understands. And Wolverine has this intimate connection with her brother, Charles, and that creates some interesting dynamics that I'm excited for you to see."
Bring it on or – as Deadpool and Wolverine would say – "Let's F**king Go".
Deadpool & Wolverine is released in UK cinemas on July 25 and in US cinemas on July 26.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
