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www.postmagazine.com 19 POST MAY 2018 DIRECTOR'S CHAIR ollowing the success of last year's punk-noir, take-no-prisoners Atomic Blonde, which starred a kick-ass Charlize Theron in the title role, director David Leitch seemed like the natural choice to take over the reins of the hugely anticipated Deadpool 2. After all, before becoming a director known for his hyper-kinetic, immersive, stunt-driv- en style (a martial arts expert by trade, he co-owns action design and produc- tion company 87Eleven Action Design), Leitch spent over a decade in the stunt business and doubled for actors includ- ing Matt Damon and Brad Pitt on such films as Bourne Ultimatum, Fight Club and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. He was also a fight choreographer, stunt coordinator, and 2 nd unit director on many films including Wolverine, Anchorman 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Captain America: Civil War and Jurassic World. Leitch brought all that experience — as well as his work on the 2017 short film Deadpool: No Good Deed and the critically acclaimed 2014 box-office Keanu Reeves hit John Wick — to the latest installment of the irreverent, raunchy Deadpool hit saga (the first one, made for a reported $55 million, racked up an astonishing global gross of nearly $750 million). While the new film's storyline has been kept closely under wraps, the "official" plot summary promises fans that all of the original film's wacky humor and ultra-vi- olence has been preserved intact. After surviving a near fatal bovine attack, a disfigured cafeteria chef (Wade Wilson) struggles to fulfill his dream of becom- ing Mayberry's hottest bartender while also learning to cope with his lost sense of taste. Searching to regain his spice for life, as well as a flux capacitor, Wade must battle ninjas, the yakuza and a pack of sexually aggressive canines, as he journeys around the world to discover the importance of family, friendship and flavor — finding a new taste for adventure and earning the coveted coffee mug title of World's Best Lover. The film, which stars Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool alongside Morena Baccarin, Josh Brolin and T.J. Miller, has a top-notch creative team led by cinematographer Jonathan Sela (John Wick, Atomic Blonde), production designer David Scheunemann (Atomic Blonde, The Hunger Games series), editors Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir (Atomic Blonde) and Craig Alpert (Ride Along) and composer Tyler Bates (Atomic Blonde, Guardians of the Galaxy). I spoke with Leitch, still deep in post on the eve of its release, about making the film and his love of post. What did you think when you got the offer to do this, as your background as a fight choreographer, stunt coordinator, 2 nd unit director, along with directing Atomic Blonde, must have been great prep? "Yeah, I felt that because of all the action it was a great fit for me, and it definitely drew me to the material. It was this fun, ultra-violent, irreverent thing I could really explore." Sequels to big hits are notoriously difficult to carry off. Were you nervous?" "Very, and you're so right. It's so hard to capture that lightning in a bottle again, and I had a lot of conversations with my producer about 'Why do this? How can we top the first one? Should we even try?' But then Deadpool's really about these small personal stories, and the character's so compelling, and ultimately it was hard to turn it down. I realized, if there's ever a comic book sequel to take on, it's this one." What sort of film did you set out to make? I assume you and Ryan wanted to keep it close to the spirit of the first one? "Absolutely. We wanted to make sure we were riding in the same lane as the original, but we also wanted to make it original and expand it but also keep it referential to the first, and keep that same cheeky tone." What did Ryan, who also wrote it and produced it, bring to the mix? "As the writer, he brings so much more than just his comedic chops and dramat- ic performance, and he's the best actor I've ever worked with. And then he's very DAVID LEITCH ON DEADPOOL 2 BY IAIN BLAIR F THE STUNTMAN- TURNED- DIRECTOR ACCEPTS A SUPER CHALLENGE Efilm handled the DI.