Madonna helped inspire the new “Deadpool & Wolverine” movie in more ways than one. During an interview with , Hugh Jackman prompted his co-star Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy to share the story behind how they were able to clear the song “Like a Prayer” for the movie during an in person meeting with the singer. “It did involve a personal visit to Madonna where we showed Madonna the sequence where ‘Like a Prayer’ would be used,” Levy said.
Reynolds interjected to share that Madonna doesn’t often license the usage of “Like a Prayer” in particular. “It was a big deal to ask for, and certainly a bigger deal to use it,” Reynolds said. “We went over and met with her and showed her how it was being used and where and why.
” Levy said the moment “felt like we were meeting royalty,” and Reynolds even admitted that he asked a person who worked with the singer if he was allowed to address her as just "Madonna." Despite his worry, the actor said meeting her was “one of the great thrills” of his life. “And she gave a great note!” Reynolds said.
“She watched it — and I’m not kidding — she was like ‘You need to do this, this, and this in this moment,’ and damn it if she wasn’t spot on.” Levy said that based on Madonna’s input on the sequence, they “went into a new recording session with 48 hours to do this one note,” calling it a “great note” that ultimately “made the sequence better.” While it’s unclear if the .