This weekend, Vertical Entertainment releases the post-apocalyptic thriller “Elevation,” which reunites Anthony Mackie with George Nolfi, director of “The Adjustment Bureau” and “The Banker.” In a thriller set in the Rocky Mountains, Mackie is joined by Morena Baccarin of the “Deadpool” franchise. In it, a single father and two women venture from the safety of their homes to face monstrous creatures to save the life of a young boy.
Mackie and Baccarin joined us for a forthcoming episode of The Discourse podcast, and conversations about both of their superhero movie roles came up during that chat.
READ MORE: ‘Elevation’ Trailer: Anthony Mackie & Morena Baccarin Try and Survive In A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller
When asked about the differences between the Marvel Studios production set and the 20th Century Fox one from the earlier “Deadpool” films, Baccarin started with a joke but then also admitted that the differences were vast.
“Yeah, I was hardly onset. That was the big difference. No, I’m kidding,” she laughed. “It was a huge film in general. Marvel is a big studio, and they do things a certain way. So it did feel very different from [the other films]. You have to remember the first film was essentially an independent, big-budget film. Relatively speaking, but not at the scale of what it is now. And we were making this film that was a little odd— like it was our sense of humor, but are other people going to think it’s funny? So it felt very, very different and very indie at the time, actually.”
READ MORE: ‘Deadpool 3’: Morena Baccarin & Stefan Kapicic Confirmed To Return As Vanessa & Colossus For Upcoming Sequel
One interesting revelation about “Deadpool 2” that Baccarin revealed was that her character Vanessa’s death in the sequel was meant to be permanent at first, and bringing the character back was not part of the film’s design.
“It was not the plan actually,” Baccarin explained about the post-credit that revived her character thanks to time travel. “I know that when Ryan [Reynolds] sent me the script for the second film, he was like, ‘Look, it’s going to look bad. Just keep reading.’ Because you know, she comes [back] in the afterlife, and they’re trying to reconnect. So I am in the film more, even though I get killed right away. And then I was like, ‘Okay, I’ve read it. What’s the plan here?’ He’s like, ‘Sorry, you’re dead.’ I was like, ‘Okay, got it.’ And so I went into the shooting of it thinking, ‘Okay, this is it. This is my last hurrah.’ And I was like, ‘I get it, whatever.’”
But then, apparently, the test audiences for “Deadpool 2” saved Vanessa with their comments and test scores.
“And then apparently after some screenings of the film, they were like, ‘Hmm, we’re getting a lot of pushback for this,’” she explained of the producer’s and studios’ thoughts on her character’s death. “‘Maybe we should keep it open to the possibility that Vanessa doesn’t totally die.’”
Suffice it to say she was back and returned in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” obviously.
As for Vanessa’s future, well, in the comics, the character also becomes the super mercenary Copycat, and Baccarin said she’d love to explore that part of the character if the writers and studio were game.
“Oh man, there’s so many possibilities,” she said about Vanessa’s potential trajectory and evolution. “I mean, of course, there’s the whole Copycat aspect of her and who she can become. I love exploring this relationship with Wade, which is so ever complicated and may never be anything simple. I think there’s so much potential in who she is. She could be a normal person who is just always kind of on his side, a grounding force, or she could turn into a superhero and then, in that way, also be his sort of center. So I don’t know. I mean, I think there are many places to go, but it’s entirely not up to me.”
“Elevation” hits theaters this weekend on November 8. More from this interview soon. – Additional reporting by Mike DeAngelo.
