….
Next Day - 2:00 PM.
LIE Studio - Private Conference Room.
….
Ryan Reynolds arrived fifteen minutes early, clutching a leather portfolio containing printed copies of the script.
Shawn Levy was also there, pacing near the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking like a man about to face a firing squad.
"You breathing?" Reynolds asked, though the tension in his shoulders matched Shawn's.
Levy murmured, dragging a hand through his hair. "We are about to pitch our first real feature script to a guy who won an Oscar at twenty-six. So technically, no, I am not."
The conference room was understated but impressive - sleek black table, comfortable chairs, a projection screen on one wall.
Samantha had laid everything out for the hours to come: water bottles aligned, notes arranged, pens placed at exact angles.
"He will be here in five minutes." she informed them after checking her tablet. "Do either of you need anything? Coffee? Or… something a bit stronger?"
"I am fine." Levy lied with zero conviction.
Samantha gave Reynolds a tight, knowing nod and slipped out, the door clicking shut behind her.
Levy sat but immediately stood again, then sat once more, then pushed his chair back as if it offended him. "Why does this feel like waiting for exam results?" he muttered.
"Because." Reynolds said. "it is exam results, and the examiner is a prodigy filmmaker with a hundred percent success rate."
Levy dropped his forehead to the table.
….
The door opened at exactly 2:00 PM.
Regal entered looking... tired.
It wasn't at the level of exhaustion, but like someone who had been operating at maximum capacity for weeks.
He wore his usual black henley and jeans, his blonde hair slightly disheveled in that effortless way that probably took no effort at all.
"Ryan." He extended his hand with a firm, assured grip. "Sorry I couldn't meet you sooner. It's been… a busy few months."
Reynolds cut in before the nerves could spiral. "Can I blame you? Iron Man blowing up the box office, the MDCU announcement, the Harry Potter book launch - honestly, we are running out of room on your highlight reel. Did I miss anything?"
"Well, you are updated." Regal responded.
Then he turned to Levy.
"…and you must be Shawn Levy."
Shawn straightened so fast he almost jolted. "Yes. Thank you for meeting us. I—I have admired your work for years."
"No need to be nervous, man." Regal added–
"Anyway, today isn't about my schedule or my films box office. It's about Deadpool. You have had three months with the reins entirely in your hands. I want to see what that freedom produced."
Reynolds slid the portfolio across the table. "One hundred and seventeen pages. Every scene we mapped out, plus a few that came alive on their own while we were writing. It's messy, it's brutal, and it's—"
"Funny." Levy cut in. "It's really fucking funny."
"Language." Regal said, face flat, tone stern—
Then he broke into a grin.
"Kidding. This is Deadpool, if it's not profane, we have already failed."
He opened the portfolio, pulling out the script. The title page was simple:
[DEADPOOL]
Written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Ryan Reynolds
Story by Regal Seraphsail
Regal flipped past the title page to the first scene.
Reynolds watched him read, trying to gauge reactions from micro-expressions. Regal's face remained neutral as his eyes moved across the pages, occasionally pausing to reread a section or flip back to check continuity.
The silence stretched.
One page became five, then ten, and then twenty.
"Should we walk you through the structure?" Levy offered nervously. "We have got a three-act breakdown that—"
Regal held up one finger without looking away from the script.
Kept reading, he didn't even smile, let alone laugh–
Just kept on reading.
And an hour passed.
Reynolds could hear his own heartbeat.
Finally, Regal closed the script and looked up, with an unreadable expression–
"As expected, you didn't disappoint me, Reyn." he said carefully.
"The dialogue is sharp, the action sequences are creative, and you have nailed Wade's voice. The fourth-wall breaks work, the tone is consistent, and the emotional beats land."
Reynolds felt relief flood through him. "But?"
"But–" Regal continued, setting the script down. "It's not finished."
The relief evaporated.
"Can we know what's wrong with it?" Levy asked, his voice tight.
"Hey, chill. I am not saying something is wrong with it." Regal clarified–
"It's a solid script that would make a good movie. Maybe even a very good movie. But I don't Deadpool just be good - it needs to be revolutionary. It needs to redefine what a superhero film can be, the same way Spider-Man and Iron Man did."
He pulled out his phone, checking the time. "How long can you stay?"
Reynolds and Levy exchanged glances.
"As long as you need." Reynolds said.
"Samantha, clear my schedule for the rest of the day. Order dinner for us too. And I will need the whiteboard from my office wheeled in here."
Samantha was already moving. "On it."
Regal stood, walking to the windows. "Ryan, you spent three months on this script, pouring everything you had into it, and it shows - the craftsmanship is there.
"But you have been working inside the boundaries of what a Deadpool movie should be. I am going to push it outside those boundaries."
"How?" Reynolds asked.
Regal turned back, and there was something in his eyes Reynolds had seen before - in that first meeting, when he had described Deadpool with such vivid clarity it had felt like a shared hallucination.
"By pushing it into territory no one expects, unapologetically intelligent."
He leaned in slightly.
"Deadpool shouldn't just break the fourth wall. He should tear it down so thoroughly the audience starts wondering if the film is messing with them."
….
The whiteboard arrived ten minutes later, wheeled in by two assistants.
Regal immediately began writing, his marker moving across the surface in quick, confident strokes.
"Let's start with structure. You have nailed the solid three-act framework:
"Wade's origin, his transformation into Deadpool, and his revenge quest against Ajax. That's fine. But it's linear, and linear is boring for a character who exists outside normal narrative conventions."
He drew a timeline on the board, then deliberately scrambled it.
"Deadpool should open a mid-action sequence. With no flashback narration, or 'record scratch, freeze frame, you're probably wondering how I got here,' but literally in the middle of chaos.
"We open on the freeway fight - cars flipping, guns firing, Wade in full costume absolutely destroying bad guys while providing sarcastic commentary directly to the camera."
Levy leaned forward. "We discussed starting with action, but we decided it would be too disorienting for audiences."
"Disorienting is the point." Regal countered. "Every other superhero movie holds the audience's hand through the origin story.
"'Here's the hero before powers, here's how they got powers, here's them learning to use powers.' It's paint-by-numbers. Deadpool should throw you into the deep end and make you figure out how to swim."
"The origin story unfolds organically as Wade remembers relevant details mid-fight. 'Oh, you want to know why I am unkillable? Well, funny story - cut to torture sequence - and that's why I can't die. Now where were we? Oh right, murdering this guy.'"
Reynolds was scribbling notes frantically. "That's... yeah, that could work."
"I am positive it will." Regal said confidently. "Because it respects the audience's intelligence. They don't need their hand held, and can piece together the narrative from fragments, and doing so makes them active participants rather than passive viewers."
He moved to the next section of the board.
"Now, the fourth-wall breaks. You have got them in the script, and they are good. Wade talks to the camera, makes meta jokes, acknowledges he is in a movie.
"But you are still being polite about it. You are letting the fourth wall exist with a few cracks. I want to shatter it completely."
"What do you mean?" Levy asked.
Regal started writing examples:
FOURTH-WALL BREAK EXAMPLES:
"You're probably expecting a superhero landing. Those are really hard on the knees. Not doing it."
"Cue the spider-man music!" [Actual spider-man music plays] "Perfect."
"How am I still alive? Budget constraints, baby. The studio can't afford to kill me off."
"You might be wondering why I am talking to you. Short answer: because fuck you, that's why."
"Wade isn't just aware he is in a movie." Regal explained. "He is actively manipulating the movie around him.
"He comments on the soundtrack. He acknowledges budget limitations, he references other superhero films - including our own Iron Man and Spider-Man. He knows he is in the MDCU and thinks it's hilarious."
Reynolds felt his pulse quicken. This was exactly what he had been afraid to suggest - the kind of bold, aggressive meta-commentary that studios usually killed in script notes.
"Won't that alienate audiences?" Levy asked carefully. "If he is constantly breaking immersion-"
"Deadpool is immersion through breaking immersion." Regal interrupted. "The character's entire appeal is that he knows he is fictional and doesn't care. Trying to maintain traditional cinematic immersion with Deadpool is like trying to make a polite History film. It misses the entire point."
He turned back to the board, writing faster now.
"Let's talk about Wade Wilson before the transformation. In your script, he is already a wise-cracking mercenary. That's fine, but it makes the transformation just a physical change. I want the transformation to be psychological too."
"How?" Reynolds asked.
"By making Wade genuinely scared of dying. Before the cancer, he is not the Deadpool we know - he has got the sense of humor, sure, but there is a vulnerability underneath.
"He loves Vanessa desperately. He wants a normal life, the cancer diagnosis doesn't just threaten his body; it threatens the future he was building."
Regal wrote on the board:
- WADE BEFORE: Humor as defense mechanism, but genuinely hopes for normalcy
- WADE AFTER: Humor as weapon, knowing normalcy is impossible
"The torture doesn't just give him powers. It breaks something fundamental in his psyche. Ajax doesn't just disfigure him, he destroys Wade's ability to ever return to his old life–
"That's why he can't go back to Vanessa immediately. It's not just about his appearance; it's that he has become something that doesn't fit into the normal world anymore."
The room was silent except for the marker scratching across the whiteboard.
"In your script, Wade stays away from Vanessa because he is ashamed of his scarring. That's surface-level. I want it deeper–
"He stays away because he knows he has become a monster, not physically but existentially. He is immortal in a world of mortals. He can't age, can't die, can't ever truly share a human experience again. Returning to Vanessa means watching her grow old while he stays frozen. That's the real horror."
Reynolds swallowed hard. "Sacry..."
"But." Regal continued, his tone shifting. "That's also what makes the ending powerful. When Wade finally does reunite with Vanessa, it's not because his appearance is fixed or because he has found a cure.
"It's because she loves him despite - or maybe because of - what he has become. She chooses to be with someone who will outlive her, knowing every moment is borrowed time."
He wrote on the board:
THEME: What does it mean to be human when you can't die?
ANSWER: Choosing connection despite knowing it's temporary.
Levy was shaking his head in amazement. "That's... fuck, that's the movie. That's the emotional core we were circling around but never quite articulated."
"Now let's talk about Ajax." Regal said, moving to a new section of the board.
"In your script, he is a straightforward villain - evil scientist who experiments on Wade, disfigures him, lies about a cure. Again, fine. But one-dimensional."
He started writing:
AJAX: Doesn't see himself as a villain. Genuinely believes he is advancing human evolution.
"Ajax was a subject in the same program that created Wade. He succeeded where others failed - he became more than human without losing his sanity.
"So, in his mind, he is offering people like Wade an opportunity. The torture isn't sadism; it's a necessary stress test to trigger latent mutations."
"He is delusional?" Reynolds asked.
"He is convinced. Delusional people don't believe their own justifications. Ajax genuinely thinks he is doing important work. When Wade comes back seeking revenge, Ajax is almost disappointed–
"'I gave you superpowers and immortality, and you are upset about some scarring?'"
Regal drew a comparison chart:
WADE: Values humanity, mourns his lost normalcy
AJAX: Transcended humanity, considers it obsolete
CONFLICT: What matters more - being powerful or being human?
"Their final fight isn't just physical. It's philosophical. Ajax represents everything Wade could become if he embraces his inhumanity. He is the cautionary tale - the guy who gained everything and lost his soul in the process."
Reynolds was writing so fast his hand cramped. "So… you can write something like this?"
"Only Deadpool deserves this treatment." Regal finished. "A superhero movie that's also a meditation on identity, humanity, and what we sacrifice for power. Wrapped in dick jokes and ultraviolence."
"So yeah a disclaimer, don't try to force this into other movies."
….
[To be continued…]
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