The Prey Director Saw Those Hilarious Ryan Reynolds Deadpool 3 'Leaked' Photos, And He Had An A+ Response

The Predator in Prey
(Image credit: 20th Century)

On-set leaks continue to be a huge issue with blockbuster movies. Disney’s upcoming Snow White, Rachel Zegler, shares stories about young fans wearing her accurate costume, even though this means that they’ve seen the costume thanks to paparazzi shots. And in the superhero realm, shots of Hugh Jackman in his yellow Wolverine costume for the pending Deadpool 3 found their way online, right next to teases of a major villain Jackman probably will fight in the upcoming Marvel movie. You can try to ignore these leaks, if you are a star and producer. Or you can do what Ryan Reynolds did… and the anarchy that is springing from it. 

In retaliation for the various Deadpool 3 set photos, Ryan Reynolds started posting Photoshopped versions of the images, including characters like Mickey Mouse, Urkel, and The Predator. None of these characters will be in Deadpool 3, but Prey director Dan Trachtenberg had his own fun with the idea, sharing this shot on X and pushing the narrative that the Merc with the Mouth will fight the universe’s most accurate killing machine. 

Prey image with Deadpool in it

(Image credit: Dan Tracthenberg's Tweet)

Obviously, we can’t take anything connected with Deadpool 3 seriously. But it has been wild keeping track of the various rumors associated with the movie, especially regarding connections that this movie will have with existing Marvel movies… particularly those that were released long before the MCU. We had been hearing that Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) were going to embark on some sort of multiverse-hopping mission that would unite the existing members of the X-Men universe. That theory earned incredible credence when we reached the mid-credits scene for The Marvels, and the cameo that was included

Why would this be happening? Well, once Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, Marvel fans began speculating how and when the Marvel characters that were owned by Fox – chiefly the Fantastic Four and the X-Men – would make their way over to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel President Kevin Feige has announced the plans for a Fantastic Four movie. But mutants have been a mystery. 

We also know, though, that one of the Avengers movies added to the Marvel release schedule is called Avengers: Secret Wars, which in the comics has been a massive superhero team up event. This caused MCU fans to start speculating if the Secret Wars movie would mash up existing Marvel characters, such as Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, Halle Berry’s Storm, and possibly even Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man.

Not The Predator, though. I mean, probably not The Predator. That’s a safe bet. 

Deadpool 3, at the moment, is scheduled for a July 26, 2024 release. And it will be the only MCU movie released next year, so it should carry a lot of weight. So long as the whole movie isn’t spoiled by the Internet by then.

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.