After he "lived in fear" of on-set leaks, Ryan Reynolds had a surprisingly straightforward plan to stop Deadpool and Wolverine spoilers from getting out: "Everyone runs for cover"
"We never had to actually deploy that little tactic, but I lived in fear"
Ryan Reynolds has revealed the plan to stop Deadpool and Wolverine's biggest spoilers from leaking on set.
"I was so fucking scared that people would see [Wesley Snipes, Channing Tatum, Jennifer Garner, and Dafne Keen]. Genuinely, it kept me up at night," Reynolds said on the Deadpool and Wolverine director's commentary of the Ant Man Arena's big fight scene involving Blade, Gambit, Elektra, and X-23/Laura taking on Cassandra Nova's minions.
But instead of filming fake scenes or producing different scripts to throw people off the scent, the production team had a much more straightforward method to stop aerial snaps being taken.
"We managed to lock the area off enough and we had a plan in place if anyone saw a drone – because oftentimes they got images via drone. If anyone saw a drone, we would yell it out and basically everyone runs for cover. We never had to actually deploy that little tactic, but I lived in fear of this coming out."
Director Shawn Levy added, "We took the chances of paparazzi and spoilers because if this were all on a soundstage, I promise you this wouldn't feel as gritty and this real."
Thankfully, it all worked out in the end. Barring one curious marketing tactic that revealed X-23's arrival before release, the biggest Deadpool and Wolverine cameos were kept well and truly under wraps until the Marvel movie made it to cinema.
Deadpool and Wolverine may have finished its run in cinemas, but that doesn't mean The Merc with the Mouth is done yet. Ryan Reynolds even returned as Deadpool for a very un-Disney-like dick joke in a new Disney Plus promo, and he also shared an "abandoned" scene alongside Hugh Jackman's Wolverine – featuring a Jean Grey name-drop.
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Deadpool & Wolverine is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Limited Edition Steelbook.
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I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.
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