Last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine was one of the highest grossing movies of the year – a hit with both fans and critics that put the Marvel Cinematic Universe back on top of the box office, following a series of (comparative) Marvel flops. It was clearly a labor of love for Ryan Reynolds, and apparently the love is still coming, as Reynolds recently shared a gift he received from a member of the film’s crew.
Reynolds posted to Instagram an image along with a note he received from storyboard artist Jeremy Simser. It seems Simser handled storyboarding the big “one shot’ fight sequence with Deadpool and Wolverine taking on the dozens of Deadpools. Simser created a single-image version of the sequence and has given one to Reynolds, who shared the image, alongside audio of Dolly Parton’s classic “I Will Always Love You.”
The poster has to be shot from fairly far back to get the whole thing in the Instagram image, but taking a closer look, this thing is incredible. It’s got all the wild insanity of the sequence, with Deadpool and Wolverine fighting through a near-infinite number of Deadpools (everybody except Kidpool).
The music attached to the post is equally wonderful. It shows Reynolds’ own love for the gift he received while also being a fairly fitting tribute to Deadpool. Wade Wilson loves Dolly almost as much as he loves Bea Arthur, because of course, who doesn’t love Dolly Parton? Deadpool 2 famously used “9 to 5” in its opening action sequence. The music in all the Deadpool films is top-notch when it comes to needle drops.
Simser clearly enjoyed his work on Deadpool & Wolverine, which is something that certainly seems to have been the case across the board. Hugh Jackman came out of his self-imposed Wolverine retirement to appear in the movie, something that was entirely his idea, and he clearly doesn’t regret it. From all accounts, the two actors and director Shawn Levy had an amazing time making the movie – so much so that the trio is planning on working together again on a non-Marvel project.
It looks like the fun wasn’t limited to those on screen. One can imagine that being a comic book fan, storyboarding a comic book movie has to be tantamount to creating comic panels. Then to see that work come to life on screen has to be equally incredible. The fight sequence, which thanks to a little CGI assistance, looks to be done in a single shot, is a wonderful ballet of violence set to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” I wish I could post the full scene for you to watch but right now the only acceptable way to watch it is with a Disney+ subscription.