Ladies and gentlemen, filming is officially underway for Deadpool 2. It’s been a somewhat fraught rode to production on the sequel, though not near as difficult as it was getting Deadpool off the ground. The R-rated superhero movie that 20th Century Fox really didn’t want to make went through years of stops and starts, but star/producer Ryan Reynolds, director Tim Miller, and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick stuck with it. After greenlighting the film on a fraction of the budget that other superhero movies get, Deadpool went on to gross $783 million at the box office. Needless to say, the sequel started moving fast.

Unfortunately, during prep, Miller dropped off the project over creative differences, but Reynolds continued to develop the script with Reese and Wernick and they quickly found a new director, John Wick co-director David Leitch, whose first solo directorial effort is the upcoming Charlize Theron actioner Atomic Blonde. The script continued to get fine-tuned, with Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) being brought in to consult, and then it was time to start casting.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Yes indeed, the casting search for the role of Cable, a major character from the comics, included high profile names like Brad Pitt before Josh Brolin eventually signed on to take the role. And as for the character of Domino, Atlanta breakout Zazie Beets won that part.

Reynolds shared on Instagram a snap of the first day’s slate, confirming that Jonathan Sela—who shot John Wick, Atomic Blonde, and Transformers: The Last Knight—is serving as the cinematographer this time around. Additionally, the first set photos have arrived showing Deadpool crashing a child’s birthday party. Never change, Deadpool. Never change.

Take a look at the photos below. Deadpool 2 hits theaters on June 1, 2018.

 

The sun sets on day 1. Feels good to be back. This dog can hunt. A post shared by Ryan Reynolds (@vancityreynolds) on
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