Shawn Levy Teases ‘Deadpool 3’ Scene Inspired by ‘Star Wars’: “This Is the Jedi Moment”
Shawn Levy says there’s a moment in Deadpool 3 that’s sure to excite eagle-eyed Star Wars fans.
While promoting his latest project, All the Light We Cannot See, the director and executive producer of the Netflix limited series offered a glimpse into how one of his next big projects — which started filming but is on pause until SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP agree on a new contract — will pay tribute to another franchise universe he loves and is developing a feature for.
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The tease comes from a new essay for Esquire, in which Levy addresses the state of moviegoing and a belief in the future of the “authentic, communal event” of the theatrical release. He begins with a memory of seeing 1983’s Return of the Jedi in the theater — and a moment that elicited a “pin-drop silence,” from the audience — before weaving that experience into a larger commentary about the power of blockbusters and their ability to bring people together.
The moment in question is the scene in “which Luke is hiding from Vader in the Emperor’s room and Vader gives the speech that ends with ‘If you will not turn to the dark side, then perhaps your sister will.'”
At the end of his piece, he returns to this moment, previewing how Deadpool 3 will pay tribute to that scene.
“For one key scene in the movie, I said to my stunt and action team, ‘Guys, this is the Jedi moment,'” he recalled. “I pulled up that scene of Vader and Luke on my phone and restudied how it was photographed, how it was blocked, the framing, the tempo.”
Without giving much more away, Levy notes that Deadpool audiences should recognize the moment that inspired him and that will hopefully inspire fans to appreciate the theatrical experience the way he did with Star Wars.
“The keen Star Wars fan will see the shot in my Deadpool movie that was inspired by a moment that I saw in a theater decades ago,” he said. “That’s a forever memory. And that’s a treasure.”
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