Deadpool and Wolverine. The ‘Merc With a Mouth’ and the adamantium-clawed mutant have sparred on the big screen before, albeit in the CGI-heavy downer that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Instead of a rematch, Marvel offers us a team-up for the ages, with Ryan Reynolds returning as Canada’s cheekiest antihero and Hugh Jackman returning to wear his claws (and the comic-accurate blue-and-yellow costume) in the summer’s rudest blockbuster, ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’.
Shawn Levy’s R-rated superhero comedy throws its titular protagonists in the middle of the Time Variance Authority’s multiversal chaos as they embark on a mission that can rewrite the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Expect X-Men and MCU cameos by the boatload, along with new players like ‘Succession’s Matthew MacFadyen as an ominous TVA agent and ‘The Crown’s Emma Corin as Cassandra Nova, the evil telekinetic twin of Charles Xavier. And, of course, the canine acting talent that is Peggy as Dogpool.
The third ‘Deadpool’ movie is unique, not just for sending Wade Wilson into the MCU but for its use of distinctive UK locations. While you can catch the odd glimpse of Vancouver in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’, Ryan Reynolds’s Canadian hometown isn’t the key filming location this time out. Instead, the chimichanga-loving mercenary has packed his bags and makes the move across the Atlantic. Dare we dream of a Deadpool and Paddington team-up?
Where in the UK was Deadpool & Wolverine was filmed?
The 69-day shoot began on June 1, 2023, at Buckinghamshire’s Pinewood Studios. Best known as the home of 007, it’s now also Disney Studios’ home from home in the UK.
Filming also took place at Bovingdon Airfield Studios, where the movie wrapped its final scenes. Other comic-book productions filmed at the former RAF base in Hertfordshire include ‘The Batman’, ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ and ‘Justice League’.
Pitstone Quarry, a 25-acre Site of Special Scientific Interest in Buckinghamshire, doubles for the film’s dystopian wasteland, The Void. Here, Deadpool and Wolvie do battle with Professor X’s evil twin, Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) and cross paths with past X-Men characters like Toad and Sabretooth.
The quarry itself is rich in sediments from the Ice Age and once yielded hippopotamus fossils that dated back 125,000 years. Look out for a half-buried 20th Century Fox logo in the movie – dating back to 2019.
Unexpectedly, Reynolds and Jackman were also spotted in costume in Norfolk (although the latter is a big fan of Norwich City). Locals were quick to deduce that this secret location was Holkham Beach, also a filming location for the much-less-violent ‘Shakespeare in Love’ and ‘The Duchess’. Reynolds’s wife Blake Lively dropped by for a surprise visit during the Norfolk shoot in early July – days before the SAG-AFTRA strike brought filming to a temporary standstill.
Deadpool and his grumpy ‘bub’ also hit London on their way, filming a car crash in the woods there. The vehicle in question is a bluish-grey Honda Odyssey that comes with its own ‘Van Jamz’ playlist. The family minivan is a little off-character for Wolverine’s leather-clad biker persona but then again, he’s in a ‘Deadpool’ movie.
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’s UK locations got a (heavily censored) plug in Reynolds’s sports documentary show ‘Welcome to Wrexham’. A season 3 episode offered a brief behind-the-scenes look at the film’s London shoot. The episode also revealed that Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney will have a cameo as a TVA agent.
Where else was Deadpool & Wolverine filmed?
After the first two movies, Vancouver again provides the backdrop for some of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’s opening moments, particularly the scenes introducing Deadpool and his adoptive family. Some scenes were also filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, where numerous other MCU movies have also been filmed, including ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’.
When will Deadpool & Wolverine be released?
It lands in UK cinemas on Thursday, July 25, and US theaters Friday, July 26.