Ryan Reynolds sacrificed his Deadpool salary for a good reason

Deadpool may not be an altruistic Marvel hero, but Ryan Reynolds “let go of getting paid” during the first movie for the greater good.

It’s hard to fathom now, given both Deadpool movies grossed a total of $1.5 billion and Deadpool & Wolverine is expected to top the 2024 box office, but Reynolds had to work incredibly hard to bring the Merc with a Mouth to the big screen.

The project had been in the works for a decade after X-Men Origins’ bastardization of the character, but it wasn’t until test footage leaked that 20th Century Fox gave it the go-ahead.

So, it’s safe to assume that Deadpool is close to Reynolds’ heart – which is why he wanted to make sure the first movie was perfect.

20th Century Studios

That’s why, according to a new interview with The New York Times, Reynolds sacrificed some of his salary to keep writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set.

“No part of me was thinking when Deadpool was finally greenlit that this would be a success,” he explained.

“I even let go of getting paid to do the movie just to put it back on the screen: They wouldn’t allow my co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set, so I took the little salary I had left and paid them to be on set with me so we could form a de facto writers room.”

While Deadpool & Wolverine’s budget is believed to be over $200m, the 2016 film was produced for a reasonable $58m. “I think one of the great enemies of creativity is too much time and money, and that movie had neither time nor money,” Reynolds said.

“It really fostered focusing on character over spectacle, which is a little harder to execute in a comic-book movie. I was just so invested in every micro-detail of it and I hadn’t felt like that in a long, long time. I remembered wanting to feel that more – not just on Deadpool, but on anything.”

Before the movie hits cinemas, find out what we learned from Deadpool & Wolverine’s first 40 minutes, who’s (probably) playing Lady Deadpool, and a full breakdown of the X-Men timeline.