Ryan Reynolds also confirmed that they tried to add Ben Affleck.
In August, just a couple of weeks after the premiere of Deadpool & WolverineMarvel concept artist Rodney Fuentebella revealed a preliminary illustration he made showing Wade Wilson ( Ryan Reynolds), Logan (Hugh Jackman), Blade (Wesley Snipes), Elektra ( Jennifer Garner), Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) and, to the surprise of fans, Daredevil (Ben Affleck) and Ghost Rider (Nicolas Cage).
“This was in the early stages of making the movie, so a lot of things changed,” Fuentebella wrote in the caption.
Ghost Rider could have been part of Deadpool & Wolverine
Joining Entertainment Weekly’s Awardist podcast, Reynolds and Jackman, as well as director Shawn Levy, recalled their efforts to get Cage to appear as Ghost Rider.
“They were in early drafts,” confirms Reynoldswhich also participated as screenwriter and executive producer, about Affleck and Cage. “We had versions of that [secuencia]but then as it happened, we realized that… We also tried to make the movie responsibly. It’s a big budget. It’s the biggest budget of any Deadpool movie, but we want to give ourselves as many restrictions as possible, which I really think facilitates asymmetrical thinking and creativity. If you have too much time or too much money, it usually kills that kind of creativity. So, yeah, you’re narrowing things down.”
“But we did talk to Nic Cage”continues the actor. “We tried to sign him, but it wasn’t a good idea… I would have loved it.”
Like Garner and Snipes, Cage and Affleck played Marvel heroes in films that were at the time owned by 20th Century Fox, the studio that has since been absorbed by the Walt Disney Company and renamed 20th Century Studios. Cage headlined Ghost Rider from 2007, playing motorcycle stuntman Johnny Blaze, who transforms into a fierce agent of justice after selling his soul to save a loved one. He returned to the role for the sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance of 2011.
Meanwhile, Affleck appeared as the Devil of Marvel’s Hell’s Kitchen in Daredevil from 2003, which also marked the introduction of Garner’s Elektra.
“Luckily, we got a lot of yeses,” adds Levy. Among them were Snipes, Garner, Evans, Henry Cavill (Cavill-rine’s Wolverine variant), Channing Tatum (Gambit) and Dafne Keen (X-23/Laura). “Especially because Ryan called them directly,” says the filmmaker. “I would often ambush them over FaceTime and put them on the spot.”
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
