The upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine movie is significant for more than just uniting two beloved Marvel characters – it also features a rare use of Madonna‘s “Like a Prayer.” Stars Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy have an interesting tale about securing rights to the iconic song.
Getting permission to use the track required a face-to-face meeting with the pop legend herself. During this encounter, the team showed Madonna exactly how they planned to incorporate the song.
“She gave a great note. My God, she watched it and I’m not kidding, just was like, ‘You need to do this, this, and this in this moment,’ and damn it, if she wasn’t like spot on and right,” Reynolds shared during a SiriusXM Town Hall special hosted by Jess Cagle that aired last Friday.
“We literally went into a new recording session within 48 hours to do this one note. She had only one note and it was a great note, and it made the sequence better,” Levy added.
While they didn’t reveal the specific note, “Like a Prayer” appears in the movie’s first trailer. Reynolds emphasized how rare it is to get any Madonna song, especially one of her biggest hits. Levy suggested they may have had an edge because Madonna’s son is a fan of the franchise.
“Madonna doesn’t just license the song, you know, and particularly that song has not been licensed,” Reynolds explained. “So, it was a big deal to ask for it and certainly a bigger deal to use it. We went over and met with her and showed her how it was being used and where and why.”
“It did feel like we were meeting royalty. I’ll say that,” Levy remarked.
“Well, of course. I even asked someone who worked with her. I was like, ‘Am I allowed to just say Madonna?’ Like, ‘Hello Madonna?’” Reynolds shared.
Reynolds called the meeting one of the “great thrills of my life,” while Levy described it as “one of the most fun evenings we’ve had.”
As the first R-rated movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Deadpool & Wolverine follows the previous two Deadpool films. It features Hugh Jackman reprising his X-Men role and is part of MCU Phase 5. Set six years after Deadpool 2, the story sees Deadpool pulled from retirement by the Time Variance Authority (TVA) for a mission with Wolverine that will reshape MCU history. The film hits U.S. theaters on July 26.
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Last update on 2024-07-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API