Earlier versions of the “Like a Prayer” battle sequence in Deadpool & Wolverine would have featured zombies and/or demons
My favorite needle drop music moments in Deadpool & Wolverine are the scenes that involve Deadpool bonding with Dogpool while the likes of Chris de Burgh and Eric Carmen play on the soundtrack – but the one star Ryan Reynolds had in mind for a third Deadpool movie since the days before the project even became Deadpool & Wolverine is the battle sequence featuring Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick revealed that previous versions of that scene were written to include zombies and/or demons!
As Reese explained, “Ryan wanted that song to be in the movie from the very early stages, long before Hugh was involved, long before there even was a movie to put it in. He was wanting to do a sequence of Deadpool in a oner, a move from left to right across camera, slicing up bad guys to ‘Like a Prayer.’” The sequence ended up showing Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine shooting and slashing their way through the Deadpool Corps, which is made up of a whole bunch of multiversal variants of Deadpool himself.
Wernick revealed, “Before it was Deadpool Corps, it was zombies. When Ryan jumped on the phone with us, I think it was November of 2021, and said, ‘Hey, you guys want to come back and do a Deadpool movie? Here are some of my thoughts.’ He pitched this idea of Deadpool versus Zombies, and he pitched this final scene, the climax of the movie being Deadpool, going down the line and to Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ and wantonly killing zombies. And we were like, ‘oh, that’s fucking badass. That’s cool.’ It ultimately evolved into the Deadpool Corps as we went along.“
Reese added, “Yeah, there was an intermediate version where he was fighting his way out of hell, and those were demons, and he was cutting his way through demons. It was definitely a tentpole that we just kept holding onto.” It has been said that Mephisto was in the running to be the film’s main villain at one point, so it would make sense if the demon battle was in a Mephisto draft.
Directed by Shawn Levy from a screenplay that was crafted by Reese, Wernick, Reynolds, Zeb Wells, and Levy himself, Deadpool & Wolverine has the following synopsis: Marvel Studios presents their most significant mistake to date – Deadpool & Wolverine. A listless Wade Wilson toils away in civilian life. His days as the morally flexible mercenary, Deadpool, behind him. When his homeworld faces an existential threat, Wade must reluctantly suit-up again with an even more reluctantlier… reluctanter? Reluctantest? He must convince a reluctant Wolverine to – F–k. Synopses are so f–king stupid. Well, the movie has made over a billion dollars at the box office, so you probably know what it’s about.
Have you seen Deadpool & Wolverine? If so, what did you think of the “Like a Prayer” battle sequence? Would you still like to see Deadpool blast his way through a bunch of zombies or demons someday? Let us know by leaving a comment below.