Though the prospect of Deadpool coming back for a third film would have been enough to draw audiences in, Deadpool & Wolverine upped the movie’s box office appeal by bringing back Hugh Jackman to star alongside Ryan Reynolds. Jackman had previously played Wolverine for 17 years before retiring from the role, so his decision to return sent shockwaves among Marvel fans. Apparently, that included Reynolds, who co-wrote the film.

In an interview with IndieWire, the actor revealed that writing “Wolverine dialogue was a terrifying process.“ Reynolds used this opportunity to heap praise onto his friend and costar Jackman, speaking more specifically about a scene wherein WOlverine gives Deadpool a heavy reality check:

“Hugh took that monologue and just devoured it. He chewed it, swallowed it, and delivered for us…and at the end, there’s a stage direction at the bottom that briefly says after he finishes that whole speech, ‘a flicker of regret crosses his pupil.’ And Hugh, in the scene, if you watch it, there is the tiniest little feeling of “I went too far,” and if you blinked, you would have missed it. I get goosebumps even thinking about it, because it was an actor who is so in tune with his instrument and himself. I get to sit there, wearing a mask.”

The film’s director, Shawn Levy, also explained how the writers got to the final version of the now-famous monologue inside of a Honda Odyssey: “we just did version, version, version, and we spent hours until it somehow felt like Logan, but also expressed a dimension and a voice that we haven’t heard him speak in.” Reynolds further clarified his approach to writing Logan, who he describes as “very Clint Eastwood.” He explained that Wolverine is a “less is more” kind of character.

Additionally, Reynolds unpacked how these struggles in writing Logan helped the writers reach his motive for donning his iconic yellow suit. He stated that “these are all problems [the writers] have to solve over and over again.” Reynolds then revealed the conversation he had with Jackman regarding the suit:

“When the first thing we said to Hugh, ‘You’ve got it, you got to be in the yellow suit.’ And we have to wait. We can’t just put you in it. They’ll clap when they see it. They’ll love it. But we have to find out why you’re wearing it. There’s got to be a reason. And then the other thing is that the character, traditionally, at least, from the core comic books, is a guy who cannot control his rage. He has a berserker rage. He doesn’t just kill the bad guys. When he goes into that state, he kills good guys too. And that is like a sickness for him. The suit, we wrote it as a hair shirt, or a penance, or this thing that he carries with him out of shame.”

What Ryan Reynolds’ Wolverine Comments Mean

Though they complement each other well onscreen, Deadpool and Wolverine are wildly different characters. As such, it tracks that a writer who is more used to creating a narrative and dialogue for Wade would have to shift their approach for Logan. That aside, building Wolverine’s gruff persona into both his dynamic with Deadpool and his inner motivations made the story feel uniquely designed for Logan. Reynolds’ comments demonstrate an effort on the writers’ part to prioritize making him speak and behave in character.

Our Take On Ryan Reynolds’ Wolverine Comments

Reynolds’ focus on making Logan’s character distinctive paid off. Even though he plays a different iteration of Wolverine, Jackman’s role in the film successfully channels the nostalgia and interest in his past performances in a way that makes this multiversal variant easy to root for.

Moreover, the scene between Deadpool and Wolverine wherein Logan absolutely unloads on Wade feels natural even though it deviates from the character’s typical behavior because the writers justify his reaction. Deadpool & Wolverine is full of character-focused writing, such as the Honda Odyssey moment, which serves to make the film feel more emotionally resonant.