As with any major blockbuster that shoots on location, Deadpool & Wolverine had to battle set leaks during filming.
Ryan Reynolds had previously responded to the leaks, which revealed cameos that have since been confirmed in official trailers, asking for everybody not to run the images to "preserve" the surprises for everybody.
For Shawn Levy, though, the leaks weren't a surprise, as he expected them to happen once they had decided to film on location.
"We made a choice early on. The traditional way to make one of these huge movies is largely on sound stages with green screens or LEDs or Volume work and mocap. We said no to that. Before we started, we said no," he told Digital Spy.
Related: Emma Corrin reveals Hugh Jackman's advice
"This is Deadpool and Wolverine. These are real-world anti-heroes. They don't come from space. They aren't magic. They aren't digital. They're analogue. And so we shot the movie with a real reliance on analogue real locations, real sets that we built at scale.
What to Read Next
"We knew images would leak, and we thought that the trade-off was worth it because what you get now is a movie that feels raw and authentic in the way I think fans want Deadpool and Wolverine."
Levy's thoughts were echoed by executive producer Wendy Jacobson, who said it was a "risk that we were willing to take" for filming on location.
She added to Digital Spy that, thanks to the Marvel security team, they had a plan in place so that the major surprises weren't going to leak before the movie's release.
Related: Best movie box sets to buy
"Every time we were going out on location, they knew which ones were the most riskiest, where leaks would likely occur, and ones that we could maybe control more than others. And I wouldn't have changed a thing," Jacobson recalled.
"Some of our biggest action sequences or biggest spoilers, in particular one, we made sure to do on the back lot at Pinewood that we totally controlled.
"Unfortunately there's just not enough space for us to do everything on the studio, and if you need woods or the quarry where we shot what was leaked, you've got to go out in the real world."
We don't have too long to wait to find out what the "biggest spoilers" are, and Levy has already been teasing the movie's "bold" opening sequence.
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.
