“Every callback is Paul Rudd”: Deadpool & Wolverine’s Meta Paul Rudd Joke May Have Its Roots in Director Shawn Levy’s Failed Acting Career – Here’s Why
- Shawn Levy initially wanted to be an actor.
- At every callback, he used to see Paul Rudd waiting, who eventually landed the roles.
- The Ant-Man joke in Deadpool & Wolverine may have a connection to Levy and Rudd's past connection.
Hailing from Montreal, Canada, Shawn Levy is an incredible director and showrunner. With multiple hit movies to his name and the ongoing series Stranger Things, Levy has had his hands full of multiple projects. His latest venture for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Deadpool & Wolverine, will be released soon.
In the meanwhile, the cast and crew of the much-anticipated movie are going around the world to spread the word about Deadpool & Wolverine. This is a great opportunity for Marvel Studios to breathe new life into the franchise that has lately taken a huge hit. Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Levy are currently on their media tour of the world.
Shawn Levy initially wanted to be an Actor
Not many people might be aware of this, but direction and filmmaking were not always the plan for Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy. He started out with a dream to act and auditioned for a lot of roles before finally entering the world of direction.
One common facet in all his auditions was, surprisingly, Ant-Man actor Paul Rudd. Every callback that Levy got after his first round of auditions, he found Rudd there too. On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Levy shared,
I went to college, I moved out to LA and I’m like, “I’m going to be an actor.” And I’m instantly kind of going to these auditions and in every callback is Paul Rudd. Like every time I got to like, “Oh, a callback, maybe I’m going to get it this time.” Paul Rudd. And you know how that story ends. Yeah. He generally got the parts. Okay, maybe this is the universe telling me I should pursue something different.
Eventually, Levy found his footing in being a director and looking after the entire project rather than being an actor. He also claimed how satisfied he was in casting Rudd as the stepdad in Night at the Museum movie since both of them finally did what they loved.
Deadpool & Wolverine quips a joke on Paul Rudd as Ant-Man
One of the trailers for Deadpool & Wolverine actually featured a scene where the titular heroes witness the corpse of Ant-Man. The superhero who has the power of shrinking and maximizing in size on command is seen as a dead body in a particular scene that got fans analyzing and assessing how that could happen. Cassandra Nova is seen stepping out of the jaw of the corpse for a brief second in the trailer.
As expected, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool makes a joke on the scene claiming that actor Paul Rudd has finally aged. While we don’t know how Ant-Man died, we can assume that this scene is from an alternate universe that Deadpool and Wolverine eventually go on to save. The face-off and the corpse are seen on a barren desert land, pointing towards an apocalyptic situation.
With Levy’s revelation and underrated competitiveness with Rudd over callbacks and auctions, it might just be possible that he added this particular scene and quip to refer to Rudd in some way. No matter what happened in the past, both Levy and Rudd are extremely successful in their careers and fans hope to see them collaborate once again on a project, possibly one with Marvel Studios.
Deadpool & Wolverine releases in theatres on July 26, 2024.
