Summary
X-Men star Aaron Stanford reflects onDeadpool & Wolverineshowcasing a more evolved Pyro in theMarvel Cinematic Universemovie. One of the big surprises withtheDeadpool & Wolverinecast, as revealed in one of the earlier trailers, was the return of Stanford as Pyro, who was part ofX2: X-Men UnitedandX-Men: The Last Stand. As theDeadpoolthreequel will essentially be the finale for the old X-Men universe, Pyro is just one of many returning players from the previous films.
Before the upcomingDeadpool & Wolverinerelease,Screen Ranttalked with Stanford about returning as Pyro almost two decades after his last appearance.Stanford opened up on finally getting to wear a proper superhero costume as Pyro and alluded to some potential major power changes for the character based on the inspiration for his redesign, stating the following:
Aaron Stanford: You’re absolutely right; Pyro never had a proper superhero costume like that. One of my source points from the X-Men movies is that, originally in X2, there’s a big scene where this SWAT team invades Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Mutants, and they’re raiding the school at night with automatic weapons and laser pointer-like scopes on them and all the kids have to run. So, for half the movie, I’m in my pajamas, just running around in my jammies. Then we ended up going to a house where I was able to swap out to regular clothes, and the clothing that they chose to put Pyro in was sweatpants and a T-shirt. So I went from jammies to loungewear, that’s what I’m wearing when I blow up all the cop cars and then progressed to X3. It wasn’t really a proper superhero outfit, it was more just like an ensemble from Hot Topic, it just wasn’t the real thing.
So when I went for the fitting, they showed me what it was going to be. I was thrilled. It’s from a specific [run]. I think it’s influenced mainly by this one specific run where it’s the Ultimate X-Men run, and it’s this different version of Pyro. In this version of the comic book, it’s the one that his face is horribly burnt; he’s used all of his powers. In the end, he’s burned himself and he’s in this kind of firefighter outfit. That’s what the vibe is, and that’s ultimately what they ended up going for, and it was a cool look. It was like utilitarian and they had like the firefighter snaps on it and everything. So yeah, putting it on, I felt like, ‘Alright, I’m finally a proper superhero here!’
Deadpool & Wolverine Soundtrack: Every Song In The Marvel Movie
The Deadpool & Wolverine soundtrack is integral to the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, helping shape its story and add impact to its biggest scenes.
X-Men Star On The Biggest Difference Shooting The Original X-Men Movies Vs. Deadpool & Wolverine
The superhero movie genre has, in many ways, evolved since the 2000s. Since this is where the firstX-Menmovies originated, it’s likely actors returning to Marvel now may be particularly aware of how much things have changed, especially withthe MCU timelinebeing one of the biggest franchises in Hollywood.
For Stanford, there were various differences in shootingDeadpool & Wolverineversus his initialX-Menfilms, with the actor discussing a prime difference was, “mainly just the sheer scale of it. It’s just enormous, and understand for me; I’ve only done small films before the X-Men movie, so to me, the scale of the old X-Men movies was absolutely jaw-dropping.” While the X-Men films certainly were considerable films in their own right, it makes a lot of sense thatDeadpool & Wolverinemakes the scale of them seem smaller, as the scope of the movie appears to be immense.
One of the aspects Stanford appreciated withDeadpool & Wolverinewas Shawn Levy’s dedication to practical sets and locations. Stanford expanded by saying,“We would go to these sets, and the cool thing about Deadpool was that, at least for the stuff I was involved in, there wasn’t a ton of green screen.“Even though there was an"element"of green screen, Stanford praised theDeadpool & Wolverineteam for"building out these massive, massive sets, so when you are there, you feel like you’re there!”
Stanford also talked about the wasteland location teased in theDeadpool & Wolverinetrailers, and how entering this set was"absolutely like being transported.“It will be interesting to see how the movie uses the dedication to practical locations to its advantage, with this offering a prime opportunity to subvert previous complaints about overly CGI-reliant superhero movies. AsDeadpool & Wolverineis almost here, the world will soon get to experience the film in its entirety, including the layers that Stanford is excited for audience members to see.
Deadpool & Wolverine
Cast
A follow-up to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 films starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
