Madonna might be making her way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a director. After reaching out to the Queen of Pop for permission to use her 1989 single ‘Like a Prayer’ in Deadpool & Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds revealed she “gave a great note” for the sequence that made it into the final cut.
“Madonna doesn’t just license the song, and particularly that song has not been licensed,” Reynolds explained on SiriusXM. “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.”
Director Shawn Levy admitted, “it did feel like we were meeting royalty,” and Reynolds described the meeting as “one of the great thrills of my life.”
Reynolds added, “She gave a great note. My God, she watched it and, I’m not kidding, she was like, ‘You need to do this, this, and this in this moment.’ And damn it, if she wasn’t spot-on and right.”
Madonna previously directed the films Filth and Wisdom (2008) and W.E. (2011), the latter winning her track ‘Masterpiece’ a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.
“We literally went into a new recording session within 48 hours to do this one note,” said Levy. “She had only one note, and it was a great note, and it made the sequence better.”
Levy also mentioned that Madonna’s son is a big Deadpool fan, which helped in securing her song for the movie, set to premiere July 26 in theaters.
Deadpool & Wolverine, the third title in the Deadpool franchise, reunites Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s Marvel heroes after 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The team-up was teased in a meta post-credits scene from Deadpool 2 (2018).
