Deadpool 3 director says 'army of nerdiest nerds' worked on Hugh Jackman's comic-accurate Wolverine suit

"I don't know if this is our last shot at Wolverine on screen, so I was going to make goddamned sure we get the old yellow and blue just once, and that we get it right," Shawn Levy tells EW.

By

Joey Nolfi

Published on September 9, 2023 05:30PM EDT

As if you'd want anyone else working to bring one of the most anticipated superhero movies to life, Deadpool 3 director Shawn Levy tells EW a legion or nerds (said with affection) helped him develop Hugh Jackman's comic-accurate Wolverine suit for the upcoming blockbuster.

"Like the rest of the world, I've waited two decades to see Wolverine in a whole movie with Deadpool, and I don't know if this is our last shot at Wolverine on screen, so I was going to make goddamned sure we get the old yellow and blue just once, and that we get it right," Levy tells EW at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, in an interview for his upcoming Netflix series based on the novel All the Light We Cannot See.

Deadpool 3 Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman CR: Deadpool Movie/Twitter; Wolverine from X-Men: The Animated Series. Marvel — Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in 'Deadpool 3' and Wolverine from 'X-Men: The Animated Series'. Deadpool Movie/Twitter; Marvel

Photos from the set of the film leaked earlier this year, teasing Jackman's return as the famous comic book character alongside Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool. The Australian actor first played Wolverine in the 2000 superhero smash X-Men, and appeared in several series installments through to 2017's Logan. He's set to reprise the character in the third Deadpool film, this time wearing a suit reminiscent of the one worn in the comics and the X-Men animated series from the '90s.

Levy explains that he and his team went through "multiple, multiple, multiple iterations and fittings" to make sure the suit was correct. "It also helps that I'm making this movie within the MCU, so I have access to an army of the nerdiest nerds available to a Marvel project," he continues.

He also says that he and Reynolds "wanted our movie to be grounded and not feel like a bunch of physical environments filmed on a soundstage," leading them to shoot large portions of the movie on location, which is, he says, how photos of Jackman's role leaked in the first place. "Fortunately," he adds, "it seems global reaction to those costumes has been overwhelmingly positive, so all's well that ends well."

Other casting rumors for the project have included Jennifer Garner returning as Elektra — the heroine she last portrayed in the 2005 Daredevil spin-off Elektra — as well as Liev Schreiber in the role of Sabretooth from X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

"I'd rather not weigh in on that, but I'll say this," Levy teases. "The rumors of actors, singers, sports stars who are all apparently in Deadpool 3 are fabulous. If all I read was the internet, I would have the greatest cast ever assembled in the history of cinema, so I'll simply say that some of those rumors are true, and some of them aren't."

Deadpool 3 — with Morena Baccarin, Brianna Hildebrand, Emma Corrin, and Rob Delaney also among the confirmed cast — is set for release in 2024.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content: