Ryan Reynolds Makes the Case for ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ to Get Oscar Recognition

After dominating the box office and pulling the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) back from the brink, the team behind Deadpool & Wolverine now has its sights set on award season.

While Marvel movies have traditionally struggled at the Academy Awards the overwhelming success of Deadpool & Wolverine with critics and fans alike has Hollywood buzzing.

Photo: Marvel

Although Deadpool could and should be nominated in multiple categories, Ryan Reynolds appears to have his sights set on the Best Screenplay category.

Reynolds Makes His Case

In a recent interview with IndieWire, Reynolds argued that the Deadpool films are more than just a run-of-the-mill comedy.

Photo: Marvel

“Many of the alt jokes are written in advance. One thing that’s against it is that a lot of people consider it a comedy,” Reynolds said.

“That’s fair, but it has a backbone that is emotion and warmth. Comedy and drama both subsist on tension. Certainly comedy is designed to set up an expectation and then come 90 degrees to it or subvert it. Somehow, you can do that so much more when you have dramatic stakes.”

Photo: Marvel

Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy agreed with Reynold’s assessment, noting that the writing process was harder than many assumed.

“There’s this presumption because the movie has a bouncy, naturalistic flow to it that, ‘Oh, we’re just finding it through improvisation, and we’re trying stuff out on set,’” Levy said.

Photo: Variety

“And certainly, there’s a little bit of that, but we refuse to go into production without a script that is honestly 95 percent reflective of the movie that everyone’s seen, and it really was the outgrowth of a long, long writing process.”

How Will ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Fare?

While it remains to be seen how Deadpool & Wolverine fare at the Oscars, the film has been shortlisted in numerous categories. Perhaps the Academy will finally overcome its Marvel prejudice and give Deadpool the recognition it deserves.