20th Century Studios/Disney
- Free Guy was originally made by 20th Century Fox prior to Disney’s acquisition of the company.
- Due to the merger, Free Guy was able to unleash wild easter eggs.
- Director Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds recently detailed how they got permission to use the iconic weapons.
Originally thought to be a mere leftover from the Disney-20th Century Fox merger, the Ryan Reynolds-starring action-comedy Free Guy wound up being one of the surprise hits of 2021 and the beginning of a new franchise for the Mouse House.
Set in the world of a video game, Free Guy allows for endless easter eggs and cameos as the story can virtually exist in any world and conjure any item. As a result, the original film’s third act featured exactly that, as Reynolds’ Guy was able to wield Captain America’s shield, Hulk’s fist, and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber (well, a blue lightsaber, at least) in the climactic battle again the behemoth Dude.
During a recent interview with Variety to promote their new Netflix film The Adam Project, Reynolds and director Shawn Levy recently detailed how they got permission to use the iconic Disney weapons.
“We wrote a letter to Disney: ‘Dear Disney, this is Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds, could we use a lightsaber, or Cap’s shield or Hulk’s fist?’ I recollect that they said yes to all of them. Ryan recollected that maybe they said pick one or two? And we just decided to use all of them,” Levy said.
“This is where it did get borderline lawless. I said, ‘I think this is the perfect opportunity to ask for forgiveness.’ I interpreted this as using all of them.” Reynolds says, “I do regret that we didn’t do something with Thor’s hammer.” [via Variety]
We actually spoke with Levy a couple of weeks ago right before it was announced that he’d be tapped to director Deadpool 3 at Marvel Studios. In fact, we asked The Adam Project director if he had any interest in helming the films, and given that the news hadn’t been announced, he was hilariously quite quick to shut us down.
In addition to Deadpool 3 and a sequel to Free Guy, the Stranger Things director and producer told us that he and Reynolds have another two projects in the works. You can check out our full interview with Levy below.
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