The Hugh Jackman movie that made ‘Deadpool 3’ possible is finally punching its way to glory as a surprise franchise looms

A lot of dominoes had to fall in exactly the right way to make Deadpool & Wolverine happen. Hugh Jackman’s grand return to the Marvel multiverse seemed destined never to occur after he made a big show about 2017’s Logan being his final outing in the X-Men franchise. And yet star Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy managed to twist his Adamantium-filled arm.

A lot of that probably had to do with Jackman and Reynolds’ long-running friendship, which is easily the best of the few good things to come out of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but let’s not overlook Levy’s contribution either. Just like Reynolds and Levy are frequent collaborators, having already made Free Guy and The Adam Project, Jackman and Levy had worked together before as well.

In perfect timing, then, the movie that helped make Deadpool 3 possible is now pummeling its way up the charts on streaming. And that’s something that should help further convince Disney that a belated follow-up or two is well worth it.

Real Steel KO-ing the competition on streaming bodes well for sequel and TV show chances

Even if you’ve never seem Real Steel, you’ve probably heard of the “robot boxing movie.” In the 2011 sports sci-fi flick, set in the then-far-off future year of 2020, Hugh Jackman stars as a former boxer who builds a robot with his son to compete in the now robot-dominated sport.

Real Steel’s legacy is a funny one, as while it only received mixed responses from critics (sitting at a mere 60% on Rotten Tomatoes), it did earn a sizeable $299.3 million at the box office and has cultivated itself a cult following — particularly among Hugh Jackman diehards. Plus, thanks to Levy’s career boom in recent years, talk of it belatedly becoming a franchise has even gained steam.

In 2021, Levy expressed a hunger to make a sequel. Interestingly, he admitted that his main goal in making said movie would be to reunite Jackman and Reynolds on screen. “I will get them together,” he promised. “Whether it’s in Real Steel or another movie, I will direct those two amazing guys and dear friends in a movie together.”

Well, he got his wish, alright! Honestly, D&W is probably what’s cooled Levy’s determination to get Real Steel 2 made, but at least Disney Plus has got other ideas. In 2022, a Real Steel streaming series entered development, which Levy confirmed was still in the works as of late 2023. Maybe the fact that the movie has risen up the ranks to stand as the seventh most popular title on Netflix worldwide (as per FlixPatrol) will convince the studio to fast-track a return to the Real Steel-verse.