Shawn Levy Says Kathleen Kennedy Told Him To Do a “Shawn Levy Movie”, Feels Empowered and Optimistic After Recent ‘Deadpool’ Experience
Director Shawn Levy is out doing the press rounds for his upcoming Netflix miniseries All the Light We Cannot See, which premieres on November 2. But being the director of a Marvel movie in Deadpool 3 and the future director of a Star Wars film later, let’s say the conversations move a bit away from the World War II drama.
Specifically, Variety asked him about a quote Mark Ruffalo, who worked with Levy on The Adam Project and now All the Light We Cannot See, gave last year when he defended Marvel’s projects against Star Wars, saying “If you watch a Star Wars, you’re pretty much going to get the same version of Star Wars each time. It might have a little bit of humor. […] But with Marvel, you can have a whole different feeling, even within the Marvel Universe.”.
Levy replied by sharing his first encounter with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy:
“When Kathy Kennedy brought me on board to make a Star Wars movie, her central mandate to me was ‘I want a Shawn Levy movie. I want a story and a tone that reflects you and your taste and what you bring to your movies — with a Star Wars story.’ So I have felt extremely empowered. We are in early days, unfortunately, because the development process was abruptly paused [due to the WGA strike], but I feel very empowered to trust my instincts in the development of this story and movie.”
Kennedy and the whole Lucasfilm machine have been criticized in the past for prioritizing choosing a good director over a good story and then the right director for that. She has also been criticized for turning Lucasfilm into a revolving door of directors. However, Levy has said before he very much intends to make that film, and he stands by that sentiment in this follow-up statement in the interview:
“The experience that I’m currently having with Marvel on Deadpool is showing me firsthand that it is indeed really possible to feel empowered and personal about making a movie within a universe that is bigger than any one film. My Deadpool movie is turning out to be exactly what Ryan [Reynolds] and I had hoped when we started off. So I’m going into the development of my Star Wars movie with a similar optimism, and faith that my instincts will be allowed to lead the way.”
Variety used their third question about Star Wars to ask, tongue in cheek, about Levy’s personal relationship with Adam Driver and if he’s actually planning a prequel film to The Force Awakens focused on Driver’s Kylo Ren; said Levy:
“Your words, not mine! As you know Adam is a buddy, and I’ve always been a huge fan of Kylo Ren. But no comment.”
Levy was knee-deep into filming Deadpool 3 in July when he was forced to stop by the actors’ strike. He was also in early development on Star Wars by the time the WGA went on strike back in May, but that was also when he was supposed to start shooting Deadpool, so it’s not like the writers’ strike actually stopped a lot.
What’s interesting about Shawn Levy doing Star Wars now is the moment of his career in which it’s happening. After working for many years on so many different projects, he finally struck gold with Stranger Things, of which he’s directed eight episodes so far, and then his back-to-back Ryan Reynolds-led movies Free Guy and The Adam Project.
But even though there are a lot of emotional throughlines between those, he went in a completely different direction with All the Light We Cannot See, which, albeit having some fun and endearing moments, leans a lot more on emotion. (I’ve seen the miniseries, and I’ll be dropping my review on our sister site MovieNewsNet.com over the next few days — he directed the hell out of that.) But then he moves on to Deadpool 3, which is supposed to be the exact opposite, while still keeping that emotional core.
And then, Star Wars, which is a very open question at the moment. What will it feel like? When will it be set? What will it be about? Good questions, for another time…
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
