TV/Film

Taylor Swift loves a good anti-hero, which is why her love of the new Deadpool movie comes as no surprise. That, plus the fact that Ryan Reynolds — one of her best buddies — produced and stars in the franchise’s latest installment.

And on Thursday (July 25), the pop star showered the film with praise on her Instagram Story, sharing a photo she took with Reynolds — along with Blake Lively, who is married to the actor, and his Deadpool & Wolverine costar Hugh Jackman — at an October Kansas City Chiefs Game.

“Over the past few years I have watched one of my best friends on this planet pour every bit of his heart, soul, sweat, time, energy, jokes, pain, joy, rebellion, darkness, and magic into this film,” she wrote. “He’s created the best work of his life, and this film feels like an actual joy portal, a wild escape from reality, and an abs sandwich.”

“I don’t know how he did it,” she added before joking, “But that’s just Hugh for you!”

The musician went on to encourage fans to buy tickets if they “like things that are unspeakably awesome,” and added of Reynolds’ character in the film, “Shout out to Wade Wilson, aka my godkids’ sperm donor!”

The Free Guy star quickly reshared Swift’s post to his own Story and wrote, “Omg, this may have just killed @thehughjackman” and added, “i’m also [dead]” with a skull-face emoji.

Reynolds and Lively are parents to four children — James, Inez, Betty and Olin. Swift has been a close friend of the family for years and even used the names of the three oldest kids in her Folklore love triangle songs. Years prior, she borrowed Reynolds’ actual Deadpool suit for her 2016 Halloween costume, after which he returned the favor by wearing a tee with her cats Meredith and Olivia on it in Deadpool 2.

“Yes, I had a T-shirt made,” he said in a recent SiriusXM Town Hall, joking that Swift took legal action against him in response. “I was sued. I lost everything in that one. And getting sued by a friend is tough to swallow. Also, she has just a lot of very, very powerful lawyers. I found out later those are just the paralegals. The real lawyers didn’t even bother with it.”

The “Fortnight” singer’s post will no doubt further fuel rumors that she makes a cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine. Fans have been convinced she appears in the film since Reynolds appeared to re-create her Evermore album cover in his Deadpool costume, before which a poster for the project featured Eras Tour-inspired friendship bracelets.

Even so, Reynolds all but shut the rumors down in a recent interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. “I wish,” he said when asked about the possibility, joking, “If I ever stop, she’d make a good Deadpool. She’s funny, funny, funny!”

Jimmy Fallon cut straight to the chase when interviewing Ryan Reynolds on Monday’s Tonight Show, asking the question Swifties all over the world have been dying to know the answer to: Is Taylor Swift in Deadpool & Wolverine?

The actor’s response, however, might leave them disappointed (although, if you think about it, he didn’t actually deny it). “I wish,” he said, joking: “If I ever stop, she’d make a good Deadpool. She’s funny, funny, funny!”

Even if the pop star isn’t in the project, there will be other famous faces who make appearances. “We don’t really have cameos as much as surprises,” Reynolds confirmed on the talk show. “The folks that do show up in the movie — I have no idea how we’ve managed to keep it secret, given the Internet, somehow it hasn’t come out — they have beginnings, middles and ends. It’s not just like, ‘Hey, there’s that person!’ and we move on. They’re there for a reason.”

The interview follows years of speculation that Swift is involved in the upcoming superhero film, which also stars Hugh Jackman and arrives in theaters Friday. The most recent bout of rumors surged earlier this month when Reynolds appeared to re-create the 14-time Grammy winner’s Evermore album cover in his Deadpool suit. Before that, a poster for the project featured Eras Tour-inspired friendship bracelets.

But why would Swift appear in a Deadpool film to begin with? Well, the singer has been close friends with Reynolds and his wife, Blake Lively, for years and at one point borrowed the Free Guy star’s actual suit to dress up as Deadpool for Halloween. Plus, his character sported a T-shirt with Swift’s cats, Meredith and Olivia, printed on the chest in Deadpool 2.

“Yes, I had a T-shirt made,” he said of the tee in a recent SiriusXM Town Hall, joking that Swift took legal action against him in response. “I was sued. I lost everything in that one. And getting sued by a friend is tough to swallow. Also, she has just a lot of very, very powerful lawyers. I found out later those are just the paralegals. The real lawyers didn’t even bother with it.”

Watch Reynolds’ Tonight Show interview above.

Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix live for the applause in Warner Bros’ first full-length Joker: Folie À Deux trailer, which arrived Tuesday (July 23).

In the nearly three-minute teaser, viewers find Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck institutionalized as he awaits trial for crimes he committed as the Joker. While there, he meets Quinn, and the pair embark on a whimsical and darkly chaotic musical journey that leaves viewers wondering what’s real and what’s imagined.

“When I first saw Joker — when I saw you — for once in my life, I didn’t feel so alone anymore,” Gaga says in a voice-over as she breaks through the glass of a store’s display window to steal a TV airing footage of Fleck in a jail cell.

The video then cuts to clips of mobs swarming a courthouse to protest the Joker’s imprisonment, and Fleck, fueled by the public’s support, defending himself in court. All the while, he and Quinn waltz to Frank Sinatra’s eerily cheerful “When You’re Smiling” in both glamorous outfits and tattered clothes. The end culminates in the two characters hosting a 1960s-esque variety show, both wearing their signature clown face paint.

“I got the sneaking suspicion we’re not giving the people what they want,” Joker says into an old-fashioned microphone, to which Quinn replies, “It’s OK, baby — let’s give the people what they want.”

The 13-time Grammy winner was first confirmed to star in Folie À Deux — which serves as a sequel to 2019’s Joker — in August 2022. The following April, photos surfaced of Gaga in her creepy costume filming musical scenes in New York City.

The trailer arrives one day after Gaga was spotted in Paris, fueling rumors that she’s performing at the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony. She’s also in the process of working on new music, having recently shared photos from the studio captioned, “Happy as ever making music … feel so grateful, heart is peaceful. It’s like meditation. I can’t wait for you to hear what I’m working on.”

Watch the new Joker: Folie À Deux, arriving in theaters Oct. 4, above.