‘Deadpool 3’ to be directed by Shawn Levy

Deadpool 3 has found its director in The Adam Project‘s Shawn Levy. The upcoming threequel will star the lead actor from the first two installments, Ryan Reynolds.

The first two Deadpool films were distributed by 20th Century Fox, which has since been bought out by Disney. That makes the Merc with a Mouth an official inductee into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be penned by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the duo who wrote the script for the first two movies. Deadpool 3 was originally slated to be written by Emmy-winning Bob’s Burgers scribes Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin and Wendy Molyneux, but Reese and Wernick are now returning instead.

Though past films have included the likes of Josh Brolin, Zazie Beetz, Morena Baccarin, and T.J. Miller as co-stars, Deadpool 3 currently only has Reynolds attached to the cast.

Levy has struck up a successful relationship with Reynolds, with the pair previously collaborating on last year’s Free Guy — one of the highest grossing movies of 2021 domestically — and Netflix’s The Adam Project. The latter film was so well-received by fans, many on social media were already calling for Levy to direct Deadpool 3, even before the announcement was made.

Reynolds shared the news Friday on Twitter.

“The third film in my Shawn Levy trilogy will be a tad more stabby,” the actor wrote while sharing an image of his characters from Free Guy, The Adam Project, and Deadpool 3.

The first two Deadpool movies — which each earned more than $780 million worldwide — each became the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever made at the time of their respective releases.

Though that less family-friendly tone made some worry Disney would lighten up the franchise once they bought out 20th Century Fox in 2019, then-chairman and CEO Bob Iger stated at the time the company would let the franchise keep its R-rating, which has since been reiterated by Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige.