When you hear the words “Marvel Studios”, the first name that comes to mind is Kevin Feige. Of course, Feige is a producer on all Marvel movies, but he’s also now the studio’s president. He has a lot to do. But if you watch any Marvel movie, you’ll see there are a lot of different producers besides him. Like, in this case Deadpool and WolverineWendy Jacobson.
Jacobson is a producer on underrated Disney+ shows She-Hulk: Lawyer before moving to other The fourth Marvel hero to break barriers. But before that, she had collaborated with “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson in some large-scale disaster movies: skyscrapers, rampageand san andreas. So if anyone can balance handling big characters with comedic Marvel stories, it’s definitely Jacobson.
io9 spoke with Jacobson Deadpool and Wolverine What we found to be the most difficult thing about the production, besides of course those actors and writers going on strike. She also tells us how to balance all the narratives the movie had to deal with, how the story evolved with Hugh Jackman’s involvement, and whether we’ll ever see She-Hulk on screen again.
Oh, you know they tried to make Deadpool into She-Hulk? Read the interview below.
Germain Lussier, io9: So, obviously the answer to that question is “strike,” so aside from the strike, what was the hardest part about finishing the film?
Wendy Jacobson: Honestly, the most challenging thing was shooting back in London in the middle of winter. We had planned to do it over the summer, and we were halfway through shooting the movie, so our costumes were designed for a spring and summer shoot. So we had a lot of big scenes shot outdoors and a lot of the actors were not dressed for the 20-degree London weather, which was pretty remarkable. We had heated tents and heated tubes, and a whole bunch of costumed audience members in giant jackets who would run in and wrap up the actors whenever anyone said stop. In addition to the cold weather, we lost three to four hours of daylight and shooting time each day. So that’s really the biggest challenge.
io9: Yeah, you would never expect that. In some recent interviews, Ryan [Reynolds] talked about all the different versions of the movie he’d seen before Hugh [Jackman] On board. But when Hugh did Come on, how much has changed since this movie?
Jacobson: You know, the truth is that before Hugh came on, we were really just talking about an outline version and weren’t ready to write a full feature of the script. But once Hugh came on, we finished the script in eight weeks. A week later we opened the production office and six months later we started filming. So I would say once we had a first draft, I think structurally it really fit into what you’re going to see in the movie. But with the release of these movies dead Pool With things like rewrites and ADR, movies keep getting better, richer, and more emotional. But it’s very close to the original idea.
io9: Obviously, the movie has a lot of action, but it also has a lot of set-up, right? Like you’re getting off Deadpool 2, Logan, and set the story here. Tell me how you keep all the important narratives balanced while still keeping the octane high.
Jacobson: This is a very good question. I mean, the truth is, I do think there are some things that we have to deal with over the top, but unlike any other movie, the first act really sets up what the journey is about. I think once we figure that out, we can really make a great mission-driven movie with these two guys. So there’s definitely a balance, but I also think the fact is, for those who haven’t seen deadpool 1 and 2 or Logan or X-Men movie or a Marvel movie, I still think you could watch this movie and really enjoy it.
io9: We know there are some cameos in the trailers, but we think there will be many more exciting and surprising ones. Without naming names, does this cause any big problems or are there any scheduling conflicts?
Jacobson: This feels like a tough question.
io9: No, it’s not. I’m just wondering, is there anything logistically going on that makes the cameo difficult from a production standpoint?
Jacobson: You know, I would say that. The word “guest star” isn’t used very often on our team because we feel like guest stars mean “look who’s back” or shock value. Anyone who may or may not be in this movie serves a key story purpose or has a very well-rounded character arc with a beginning, middle, and end.
io9: Okay. Excellent. Now this isn’t your first project in the MCU. You have also worked on she-hulk We love it and love it. Obviously you can’t spoil anything, but personally, do you think we’ll see her in the Marvel Universe again on Disney+ or in a movie?
Jacobson: I like. That’s all I can say.
io9: Okay. so you produced she-hulk Now dead Pool, they are probably two of the most famous characters to break the fourth wall. Is that your niche now? What would happen if they ended up on screen together?
Jacobson: This is also a good question. You know, I don’t know if fourth wall breaking is my niche. It would be great if comedy was my niche. You know, my uncle Danny Jacobson was actually a great writer and producer who gave Ryan his first big break on a show he hosted called for” Two guys, a girl and a pizza place. So maybe it’s just in my blood. I would love to continue doing comedy. Yes, I would love to see She-Hulk and Deadpool together. We tried to get Deadpool in she-hulk Also, but without success.
io9: Wow, that’s really cool. One last thing, Sean [Levy], Hugh and Ryan are all such strong personalities. How does it feel to be outside of the creative trio? Are your ideas difficult to express or impossible to express at all?
Jacobson: These guys are awesome and collaborative. In fact, they’re such great creative visionaries that I feel like my role is really a support one, right? Working hard to make their vision a reality. So you let them do their thing. I try to help in any way I can, and if there’s an opportunity to come up with a new idea or something like that, they’re more than happy to accept it. In fact, they’ll pick up great ideas from anywhere on a movie set because they just want to make the best movie possible. So it’s been a really, really great pleasure working with them.
Deadpool and Wolverine Opens July 26th.
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