If Hugh Jackman were to revive a musical with Deadpool and Wolverine co-star Ryan Reynolds, what should it be?

You may have heard there’s a certain Marvel Studios film being released in cinemas across the UK today… unless you’ve been hibernating under a superhero-proof rock!

Tony Award winner Hugh Jackman has finally teamed up with his best “frenemy” Ryan Reynolds – the two have enjoyed a relationship fuelled by online banter for years – to bring their iconic characters of Wolverine and Deadpool from the former 20th Century Fox X-Men franchise to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (following the 2019 acquisition by Disney).

And WhatsOnStage was lucky enough to be invited to a press screening in London’s Leicester Square last night…

It got us thinking, stagey fanatics as we are, about the dream scenario of seeing the duo tread the boards together. Reynolds is firmly based in the film and television camp, but if he was able to persuade Jackman to dust off those famous adamantium claws and hit the gym again (after retiring the character in 2017’s Logan), then maybe, just maybe, Jackman could turn the tables and lure the illusive Reynolds to the stage.

So… we decided to ask you, the WhatsOnStage readers, in a poll (a “Deadpoll”, as it were): if you could see the duo reviving a beloved Jackman musical, which role should Reynolds play opposite the theatre veteran. And you can see the results below:

1. The Greatest Showman, with Reynolds playing Phillip Carlyle (32.9 per cent of the vote)
2. Les Misérables, with Reynolds playing Javert (30.8 per cent of the vote)
3. Oklahoma!, with Reynolds playing Jud Fry (18.3 per cent of the vote)
4. The Music Man, with Reynolds playing Marian Paroo (17.9 per cent of the vote)

Move over, Zac Efron! The fans have spoken! And with a stage adaptation of The Greatest Showman already in the works via Disney Theatrical, they can continue to dream of a Jackman-Reynolds duet of “The Other Side” on a West End stage. During the Deadpool and Wolverine film itself, there’s even a nod to Jackman’s performance as P T Barnum during a blood-soaked fight between the two comic book characters in a Honda, as they crash into the car radio and it switches to the opening bars of “The Greatest Show” musical number (followed by Grease‘s “You’re the One That I Want”)!

Jackman’s last theatrical venture, Broadway’s revival of The Music Man – which took the wooden spoon in our poll – also gets a cheeky mention in the movie, as Deadpool threatens an adversary with Jackman singing the entire act two score of the 1957 classic… with no vocal warm-up! I’m not sure how many fellow musical fans were in attendance at last night’s screening, but that particular easter egg was well appreciated by this writer.

As for the rest of the film, it is a fine balancing act between a celebration of the previous 20th Century Fox-Marvel films, breaking the fourth wall with insider jokes about the business of Hollywood and the current state of the MCU, action sequences with extreme violence, incorporating cameo appearances that further the plot and don’t just rely on nostalgia and, of course, between laugh-out-loud comedy (and I did, a number of times!) and emotionally moving drama. I’m happy to report that this balance was struck with such a high-level of expertise filmmaking that I, for one, hope this isn’t the last time we see the pair as part of the MCU.

Deadpool and Wolverine is out in cinemas across the UK today.

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