One of Ryan Reynold's most recent films was Free Guy. The project was directed by Shawn Levy (who is now helming Deadpool 3) and followed an NPC named Guy in a virtual MMO-type world that sees him through the motions of his life. In his case, this involved events such as random gunfire, brawls in bakeries, and even the daily bank robbery.
Everything started to change when he realized he was actually a Not Player Controlled (NPC) character in a video game, with people from the "real world" controlling those parading around the streets of his city and causing chaos wherever they went. Eventually, Reynold's leading character is forced to take action to not only break the mundane cycle of his virtual life but also to save Free City from complete annihilation.
With such a concept, Easter eggs are pretty easy to implement. Of course, Reynolds went to town. Some of the ones that got the biggest reactions were Disney-based. In a crucial battle toward the end of the film, Guy surprises audiences by pulling out several iconic weapons to help him save the day: a lightsaber, Captain America's shield, and Hulk's fist.
Now, the star of the film revealed another big MCU reference that he wished the film had used.
One Regretful Marvel Absence in Reynolds' Free Guy
In an interview with Variety, Free Guy and Deadpool 3 director Shawn Levy and actor Ryan Reynolds talked about how they went about using those hilarious Marvel Easter eggs seen in the film. Among those, Reynolds mentioned wanting to use Thor's hammer in Free Guy as well.
Firstly, Levy recalled how they "wrote a letter to Disney" and that the company responded but told them to choose only a couple of its potential reference choices; however, Levy and Reynolds "decided to use all of them:"
“We wrote a letter to Disney: ‘Dear Disney, this is Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds, could we use a lightsaber, or Cap’s shield or Hulk’s fist?’ I recollect that they said yes to all of them. Ryan recollected that maybe they said pick one or two? And we just decided to use all of them."
Reynolds added that the whole process "[got] borderline lawless:"
“This is where it did get borderline lawless. I said, ‘I think this is the perfect opportunity to ask for forgiveness.’ I interpreted this as using all of them.”
The actor added that he "regret[s] that [the]y didn't do something with Thor's hammer:"
“I do regret that we didn’t do something with Thor’s hammer... at that point, they had already made a tiny little purchase of Fox Studios, so we were technically a Disney movie anyway.”
All Who Wield Marvel Easter Eggs
Thor’s hammer would have been a good option on top of the three blatant Disney Easter eggs they did use. Ryan Reynold's Guy could have used a little lightning in a time like that.
What objects may have been considered but gone unsaid? The obvious pick would be the Infinity Gauntlet; say, the main character utilized it to change his environment, almost as if utilizing cheat codes. The filmmakers must have also considered an Iron Man repulsor or Spider-Men web-shooters. Maybe for the sequel?
Given what Reynolds was able to do for Free Guy, it’s hard to imagine what he might possibly bring to the table for the upcoming Marvel Studios film, Deadpool 3. The actor has never had so many tools at his disposal to do whatever he wants with his favorite character—no doubt he’s having a fantastic time developing the much-anticipated sequel. It's kind of strange he never referenced his own favorite Mercenary in Free Guy either.
Free Guy is now streaming on Disney+, and Deadpool 3 does not have an official release date yet.
