A Scrapped Deadpool & Wolverine Idea Would Have Been The Ultimate Bait And Switch

After years of anticipation, Marvel's most anticipated movie in years has finally made its way into multiplexes. Initial projections show that "Deadpool & Wolverine" will blow everyone away, especially at the box office. That's not surprising considering this is the first time Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) are teaming up as their iconic characters (we won't count "X-Men Origins: Wolverine").

But while the film is set to make a major splash, the first idea for marketing the crossover threequel could have resulted in a much more muted opening night. While appearing on the "Hot Ones" show on YouTube, Reynolds revealed the abandoned plan for the film's release. "The original idea with this movie was to shoot a fake movie called 'Alpha Cop' that was intentionally bad," Reynolds said. "I even had one of the posters made. It was about two guys that were sharing one brain, and together they make the ultimate cop." He continued by revealing that the film's tagline would have been, "Two cops, one brain, all balls."

Marvel's newest star continued by saying that the intention for this fake movie, which would have starred him and Jackman, was to make it horrible. The movie would have been promoted as its own thing, and Reynolds believes it would have been a massive flop — at first. "Like 10 people in America would go to see this movie on opening weekend, and five minutes into the movie, the Marvel logo would flip up and it would actually be 'Deadpool & Wolverine,'" Reynolds said. He added that "if you managed to get down to the last minute and [the secret] got blown, it would just be heartbreaking."

The idea of doing a full-on bait and switch is a fascinating idea, but one that would have been extremely difficult to pull off. However, if you're going to pull a stunt like this, "Deadpool & Wolverine" would have been the perfect project for it. After all, the self-aware, goofy nature of Deadpool lends itself well to trolling audiences. Despite being a brilliant concept, it would have taken nothing short of a miracle to keep a project like this under wraps.

Prior to the release of "Deadpool & Wolverine," there were tons of rumors and leaks pointing to the film's massive number of cameos. Without getting into spoilers, we can say that some of those leaks came true. Rumors and speculation were so rampant that Ryan Reynolds leaked his own set photos to out scoop the scoopers. But nonetheless, if ultra-top-secret cameos were able to make their way onto the internet months before the movie debuted, it's fair to say that the true nature of "Alpha Cop" would have been revealed ahead of schedule. And if the whole ruse was spoiled, the entire idea of a bait-and-switch would have been rendered moot.

Logistically, it would have been a nightmare to navigate through, as a production the size of "Deadpool & Wolverine" employs hundreds of individuals. Eventually, the age-old idiom of "loose lips sink ships" would have been proven true.

Ryan Reynolds is obviously joking when he says that only 10 people would show up on opening night for "Alpha Cop." While Reynolds has delivered his share of big box office bombs, he also has tons of financial hits under his belt, including 2021's "Free Guy." It's not difficult to assume a significant portion of his fanbase would have shown up to support "Alpha Cop," especially because it would have featured Hugh Jackman. While the opening day numbers would have been rather average, word of mouth would have led to "Alpha Cop" "Deadpool & Wolverine" having one of the biggest day-to-day jumps in box office history.

Even though his plans didn't manifest, for what it's worth, tons of fans believe that Reynolds' "Alpha Cop" release strategy is brilliant. "ryan is a true comedian. didn't care if the movie tanked at the box office just wanted to prank everyone," shared @kmmkiwiberry on X (formerly Twitter). "This would have been so awesome but he was right it def would have been leaked and ruined it all," expressed @alwaysbyyoo.

Seeing as "Deadpool & Wolverine" is set to make a huge chunk of change, maybe Reynolds and Jackman will consider making "Alpha Cop" down the line. After all, their pairing has proven to be immensely popular, and in this case, maybe one brain would be better than two.