Disney made the decision to move ahead with its planned production schedule for Deadpool 3 despite the WGA writers strike, and now it must deal with the consequences. Chief amongst those includes the fact that Ryan Reynolds will not be allowed to improvise or ad-lib lines in any way during the filming of the highly-anticipated latest installment in the franchise.
Speaking off the cuff and R-rated riffing has been part of what made the Deadpool character such a hit for Reynolds (not to mention Disney/Marvel), but now he'll have to stick to the script verbatim for the studio to not be in violation of Writers Guild of America strike rules. Deadpool 3 is a highly anticipated release, both for it marking the reunion of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Reynold's Deadpool, as well as it representing the official introduction of X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In short, expectations are high, and not allowing Reynolds to perform at full capacity raises serious concerns for Marvel fans. However, Disney seems to have prepared for many contingencies of the WGA strike, and the fact that Ryan Reynolds is credited as a co-writer for the Deadpool 3 screenplay raises the hope that some of his on-the-fly one-liners may have already been scripted for production prior to the strike's onset.
Also, with it already announced that the film would lean heavily on the Wolverine aspect of the story, perhaps a slightly less quippy Deadpool won't be as glaring as feared.
Deadpool 3 is scheduled for release in November 2024, so the studio apparently felt the need to keep production running on schedule. Hopefully for fans of Ryan Reynolds and the franchise, Deadpool will be able to harness a new superpower for this one — sticking to the script.
Note: Josh Silverstein is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West.