Even Hollywood superheroes play ping-pong

With China's summer box-office season in its final stretch, Deadpool and Wolverine — making their debut as a dynamic duo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — are stealing the limelight on thousands of silver screens.

As the latest Marvel superhero film, Deadpool & Wolverine has raked in over 300 million yuan ($42.1 million) since its debut on the Chinese mainland on July 26, making it one of the most popular foreign blockbusters in the country.

With Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds reprising their roles as Wolverine and Deadpool respectively, the 126-minute storyline follows Deadpool's invitation to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the Time Variance Authority and his decision to enlist a variant of Wolverine to prevent the extinction of his own universe.

For most die-hard Marvel fans, one of the most exciting elements is the return of Jackman as Wolverine, a mutant with special healing powers, whose lethal weapons are a pair of metal claws.

During a promotional tour in Shanghai last month, Jackman revealed that he made the decision to reprise his role during a two-and-a-half-hour drive to Long Island in New York.

"My children were in the back of the car, both with headphones on. I was just driving and thinking about how I encourage them to dream about anything in life. I asked myself what I would want to do with my life if I could do anything," the Australian actor says.

As his thoughts drifted to various ideas, such as learning a musical instrument or building a small house, he realized that he wanted to shoot a movie about Deadpool and Wolverine. So, he pulled over and called Reynolds, coproducer of Deadpool & Wolverine, informing him that he had decided to be on board.

"I said 'I'm in' and then I got back in the car and thought I should probably call my agent and tell him," says Jackman.

For Reynolds, the production of Deadpool & Wolverine is not the result of a sudden flash of inspiration, but a journey that has taken time.

After the success of the first and second Deadpool movies released in 2016 and 2018, Reynolds' masterful portrayal of the titular comic role redefined the superhero genre with its irreverent humor, unapologetic ferocity, and a charismatic antihero, propelling his character to pop-culture icon status.

In 2019, The Walt Disney Company finalized its $71.3 billion acquisition of 20th Century Fox, granting Marvel ownership of X-Men characters, including Wolverine. This paved the way for a movie featuring the pair together.

Reynolds and director Shawn Levy had been pitching ideas for years about developing a Deadpool film to Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, himself a legendary filmmaker known for turning Marvel from a debt-ridden comic studio into a cinematic behemoth. However, their proposals were turned down.

While the creative duo were stuck in deadlock in late 2022, Reynolds received Jackman's surprise call, leading Feige to quickly greenlight the movie, on one condition: that Wolverine wear his yellow and blue outfit, the character's original look from his comic debut in the early 1960s.

"When both Ryan and I turned up in our full suits for the first time on set, the crew members turned into fans," recalls Jackman.

Sharing more memories of that day, Reynolds recalls that a crew member, whose child was named Logan like Wolverine, told him it was the best day of his life. The staffer said he had never seen Wolverine and Deadpool standing next to each other, despite growing up reading comics featuring Wolverine in his original costume, Reynolds adds.

One of the hardest moments for the actor was when SAG-AFTRA, a labor union representing around 160,000 actors in Hollywood, called a strike in July last year after failing to reach a deal with major studios. The strike led to the suspension of the movie, which was in the middle of production at the time, and lasted for nearly four months.

"When the strike was announced, I was in my Deadpool suit. I went and sat in the tent. It must have been 100 degrees (37.7 C) in there. Normally, I would quickly take my suit off because it's so hot. However, this time, I sat in it for about half an hour and didn't want to move. I didn't want to take it off. Every time I've taken it off in the movie, I never know if I'm ever going to put it back on again," recalls the emotional star.

Despite its twists and turns, the film has had a happy ending, becoming the biggest grossing R-rated film of all time in the North American market.

Interestingly, ping-pong, which is currently captivating Chinese audiences watching the Paris Olympics, has been part of the process.

As Jackman and Reynolds refined their comedic chemistry with director Levy, they played each other on a ping-pong table sent to the set by Reynolds' wife, actress Blake Lively, according to the American magazine Vanity Fair.

Reynolds said that he and his wife have photos of famous Hollywood duos playing ping-pong. Memorable moments include Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart playing a game in 1937, as well as Paul Newman and Robert Redford enjoying a match in 1968, during a break in filming Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Levy, who attended the Shanghai event with the two actors, describes playing ping-pong as a metaphor for the movie.

He elaborates by saying that the dynamic between Wolverine and Deadpool in the film mirrors the essence of ping-pong, involving both competitive back-and-forth exchanges and moments of collaborative teamwork.

"The story develops into a tale of friendship. It's an emotional aspect of Logan that we haven't seen in other movies. It's what makes Deadpool& Wolverine so exciting for fans," says Levy.