‘I’d take a sledgehammer to the face for Alex’: While Ryan Reynolds praise his ‘Daredevil & Wolverine’ stunt team, let us take a moment to celebrate how yummy they are

Ryan Reynolds has sung praises for the stunt team involved in Deadpool & Wolverine, sharing a series of behind-the-scenes photos from the set of the Marvel threequel.  The actor, who plays the titular anti-hero alongside Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, began his message of thanks by hoping that stunt work “someday” has its own category at the Academy Awards. 

Reynolds cited silent film stars and physical comedians like Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin as “stunt performers” who told “stories with their entire bodies,” before name-checking the performers who “over-delivered” with their work on Deadpool & Wolverine. 

Reynolds first thanked his body double and the film’s Fight Coordinator Alex Kyshkovych, who he worked with for the first Deadpool and has elsewhere appeared in X-Men: Days of Future Past and The Adam Project. “I’d take a sledgehammer to the face for Alex,” Reynolds wrote, naturally in the tone of his onscreen counterpart. “Or rather, I’d ask Alex to take a sledgehammer to the face for Alex.” 

Reynolds went on to praise Supervising Stunt Coordinator George Cottle — who has worked on films like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Barbie — as a “HUGE GET,” saying his skills “made the entire film better.” Elsewhere in the post, Reynolds admitted that while Jackman did many of the stunts himself, his body double Daniel Stevens does “step in for the truly dangerous stuff.” 

Reynolds accompanied the post with multiple images of the stunt workers he mentioned, many of whom look like they have what it takes to become bonafide movie stars in their own right. Later, the actor also offered a shoutout to Joel Adrian and Julia Schumi, the body doubles of Gambit and Elektra, respectively. 

“If you’d like to see [The Academy] recognize the amazing work of stunt teams ACROSS THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY, let them know!”.

It’s not the first time Reynolds has sung the praises for the work of physical performers in Hollywood. Last year, upon hearing news that a biopic series about one of his favorite slapstick comedians was in the works, the actor said he was “excited to see Buster Keaton’s story told.” 

It might be some time before performers like those get their dues, however, with the Academy refusing to include stunt work as a category despite years of lobbying, including by John Wick himself. They did, however, get a video tribute at this year’s ceremony, presented by The Fall Guy stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.