If you look back at Deadpool & Wolverine coverage from about a year ago, you won't see the most famous member of the X-Men's name in the title. How most recently in December 2023/Film and other outlets simply called it the future highest grossing R-rated film of all time "Deadpool 3". Why? According to a recent interview Ryan Reynolds and Sean Levy did with IndieWireit all comes down to some tricky legal information related to the heroes involved - Wade Wilson aka Deadpool (Reynolds) and James Howlett aka Logan or Wolverine (Hugh Jackman).

"For some reason, we weren't allowed to use the name Wolverine in the title," actor, co-writer and producer Reynolds told Indiewire, noting that he pitched studio head Kevin Feige to "a dozen, maybe 16" Deadpool-related projects. . movies before settling on the idea they ended up with. Reynolds says he wasn't sure why the odd couple weren't allowed to share billing at first. "I had no idea why, some weird loophole, but at the last minute we changed it to 'Deadpool & Wolverine' and they kind of pushed it through."

Shawn Levy, the director of "Stranger Things" who directed "Deadpool & Wolverine" and is listed among its writers and producers, says that negotiations over details like these are "contractual" — perhaps one related to Disney's 20th Century acquisition . Fox assets, including Fox-owned Marvel characters like Deadpool and Wolverine. "A lot of things started with 'no,'" Levy explained. "Not because they micromanaged, but because the lawyers across the room said, 'That's not part of the deal.'

Levy describes Reynolds and himself as "reverential hammers," trying to knock down the things they loved most about the film. "If we felt something was right for this story, if it became necessary, then we were just a little bit ruthless," admits the director. Reynolds says that "a lot of times," decisions like choosing a title come down to "perseverance." He also notes that the duo were originally told they couldn't use the characters Blade or Gambit, even though they both end up in the final film (played by Wesley Snipes and Channing Tatum, respectively). The pair were smart to push these limitations, because the sheer feeling of getting away with something in a carefully planned, corporate franchise like the Marvel Cinematic Universe is what makes Deadpool & Wolverine so surprising and memorable.

As for the title, Reynolds says he initially pitched a few scrapped ideas. One of them was a movie called "Deadpool is the Hunt" in which "the hunter who shot Bambi's mother finds (Deadpool), and they fall in love, become like Butch and Sundance." Another idea was a road trip film with acclaimed character actress Margot Martindale, shot in the style of an indie Sundance film, whose name Reynolds did not mention in the interview.

"The title was 'Deadpool 3' for a long time, and then it's going to be 'Deadpool and Friend,'" Levy says. Ultimately, the movie was almost called Deadpool vs. Wolverine, but Levy says the writers realized in a "late-in-the-process epiphany" that Wade and Logan weren't actually going to be enemies in the movie. "The arc of the script is that they're at odds until eventually, and frankly, the audience, satisfyingly, they come together," notes Levy. "So the 'versus' turns into an 'and'."

Thus, "Deadpool & Wolverine" was born. The film duo won this battle, even if they lost the mickey mouse fellatio joke war.

"Deadpool & Wolverine" is now streaming on Disney+.