“DEADPOOL 2. The sequel to the first one.”
--Twentieth Century Fox
 
“Deadpool [Ryan Reynolds] is an apple among oranges, when it comes to superheroes. He is irreverent. He is self-loathing. He is silly, childlike, violent, annoying. He’s a lot of things that other superheroes aren’t and he’s not really even a superhero. He’s kind of an antihero in superhero garb.”
--Rhett Reese Writer/Exec Producer
 
“One of the things that made the film DEADPOOL popular was that, while it was irreverent, it also had a heart and real angst and grounded emotions. Wade Wilson is someone who leads a pretty tormented life and lives on the edge of society. We wanted to carry that into DEADPOOL 2, and we worked in some pretty serious, dark plots. Deadpool is still on the fringe, he hasn’t really made much of his life and he is still scrounging to get by – which is always endearing. The Cable character [Josh Brolin] has also lost a great deal. He’s lost his wife and daughter at the hands of a mad man, and he’s doing anything in his power, including traveling back in time from the future, to solve that issue and bring them back to life. In this, there is an undercurrent of real emotion and depth that counterbalances the humor. It’s not just farce or a romp.”
 
It’s all of the above!
 
Director David Leitch brought Production Designer David Scheunemann with him from ATOMIC BLONDE, and the PD, in turn brought on Set Decorator Sandy Walker SDSA International and her Canadian team. They dove into the irreverent comic book world of Deadpool, seamlessly giving the sequel a stylized edge.
The sets have so many clues to character and pop culture references, we asked Walker for a few insider notes...
 

...from Set Decorator Sandy Walker SDSA International ...
 
Wade and Vanessa’s Loft Apartment...
The loft apartment was a built set revised from the first film. We retained part of the set from the first iteration, but basically revised a large part of it...substantially! Production Designer David Scheunemann has a very graphic style and a bold color palette. I had been taught that set dressing is the backdrop behind the actor and it should never out-stage the actor. So I was nervous at first when David chose acid green, bubble gum pink, turquoise green and cobalt blue paint colors for the pipes and some furniture pieces. He definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. We had to present this set to Ryan Reynolds as one of our first sets up, and David and I were a bit nervous not knowing if Ryan would think it was too bold and out there. But then, of course, it was Ryan...he loved it!
 
Wade is immature, hard-edged, quick-witted, etc. We tried to add silly details like painting a dollar store action figure to look like Deadpool and hanging him from the light fixture as if it were a parachute.
 
We created a memory wall of photos and trinkets of their special memories on a vintage garden gate that we hung on the wall above the bar cart.  It includes a picture of Bob Ross, whom we decided would have been Vanessa's uncle.
 
The poster wall also has a few "Easter eggs" hidden...
...Ryan Reynolds personally requested there be a reference to Gordon Downie, the front man of the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, who died last year of cancer. The character Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool is Canadian, and has cancer.
...The large poster of the woman wearing sunglasses: the woman is supposed to be Vanessa, and the silhouette of people in the sunglasses is of the X-Force
...DP loves unicorns, check the lower corner...

 

 

Cable’s Future Apartment...
This is the 20-years-in-the-future apartment belonging to the time-traveling Cable, a warrior infected with the techno-organic virus that renders him cybernetic. Since he is half human and machine, we wanted some of his furnishings to have organic materials throughout, i.e. marble coffee table, walnut dining table, large wood-log bench.
 
Another built set, this one had an old military bunker feel to it.
Our PD wanted to use iconic pieces of furniture as well as antiques in the set, so it wouldn't look dated in years to come. Thus, you will see a De Sade Serpentine sofa, an Alta Chair and ottoman by Oscar Niemeyer, Pantone dining chairs and Isamu Noguchi lamps.
 
We also placed a large Easter egg for the fans of the Deadpool comics/story: the painting above the sofa was custom-made to represent Cable’s father, Cyclops.
 
 
The Ice Box, isolated prison for mutant criminals...
 
PD David Scheunemann did an amazing design for huge maximum-security prison set, which was built within an old power station that was just a concrete shell. A center catwalk is suspended from the ceiling. Each prison cell is a transparent pod cantilevered off the side walls...the individual pods can be moved. To accentuate the cold and discomfort, we decided to make the mattresses smaller than the width of the beds and scenically stain the mattresses and bedding with bodily fluids from past prisoners.
 
 
The Orphanage, Broadstone House, Essex School for the Young...
... a “Mutant Reeducation” Center...
The key set here was another build, the Auditorium, where the Head Master uses a variety of torture instruments to stop their mutation from advancing.
I found a great vintage optometrist set from Seattle and augmented it to look like a torture chair. A few of my talented Set Dressers love working with their hands and had a great time creating steampunk torture components. The day before we were supposed to shoot the set, the Director requested another torture chair to be on the stage. My Buyers lucked out and found a matching dental chair and tower from two different vintage stores! Our Set Dressers worked their magic that same day and we rolled the items in place on shooting day.
 
 
Sister Mary Margaret’s School for Wayward Girls bar and backroom...
We had a blast creating this mercenary bar backroom for Weasel's character, who not only runs the bar but also happens to deal weapons. Again, it was a total build. Weasel is a tinker of electronics and creator of weaponry. Wires are hanging down from the ceiling and hooked up to several phones and computer servers that are below his desk.
 
As noted before, the Production Designer likes very graphic images in each set, hence the backlit anime wall. We also had to find thousands of comic books to create the piles all over the set. Then we found odd stuffed dolls from a dollar store (ran around to several of the stores to buy enough), and created a stuffed doll chair.
 
We had to re-create this set for the reshoots, right down to the last bullet shells that are on the desk.
 

 

Wade & Vanessa’s loft apartment… Set Decorator Sandy Walker SDSA International smiles, “Wade is immature, hard-edged, quick-witted, etc. We tried to add silly details like painting a dollar store action figure to look like Deadpool and hanging him from the light fixture as if it were a parachute...” Photo by Joe Lederer ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Wade & Vanessa’s loft apartment… “We created a memory wall of photos and trinkets of their special memories on a vintage garden gate that we hung on the wall above the bar cart. It includes a picture of Bob Ross, whom we decided would have been Vanessa's uncle...” Photo ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Wade & Vanessa’s loft apartment… With the maxim in mind that a set should not out-stage the actor, Walker was a little concerned about the bold color palette Production Designer David Scheunemann chose, but she ended up translating it perfectly for the comic book come to life! Photo ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Wade & Vanessa’s loft apartment… “ The poster wall has a few Easter eggs hidden... ...Ryan Reynolds personally requested there be a reference to Gordon Downie, the front man of the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, who died last year of cancer. The character Wade/Deadpool is Canadian and has cancer. ...The woman wearing sunglasses in the large poster is supposed to be Vanessa, and the silhouette of people in the sunglasses is of the X-Force ...DP loves unicorns...” Photo ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Wade & Vanessa’s loft apartment… Details... Photo by Joe Lederer ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Wade & Vanessa’s loft apartment… The apartment was a built set, substantially but seamlessly revising the original from the first film. This is one of the elements carried over. Photo by Joe Lederer ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Wade & Vanessa’s loft apartment… Morena Baccarin, who plays Vanessa, the love of Wade Wilson’s life, says, “Much like the first movie, this is really fun, action-packed, funny and the true heart in it is very palpable and beautiful. It’s heartbreaking...” Image ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Mutant orphanage… Deserved aftermath... Photo by Joe Lederer ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Orphanage, Broadstone House, Essex School for the Young… Headmaster’s office—he’s a genetic fundamentalist who believes he can torture the children as a cognitive therapy to deny use of their powers... Photo by Joe Lederer ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Orphanage, Broadstone House, Essex School for the Young… Walker imparts, “I found this great vintage optometrist set from Seattle and augmented it to look like a torture chair. A few of my talented Set Dressers love working with their hands and had a great time creating steampunk torture components.” Then the day before the shoot, the Director asked for another torture chair... ...For more, see article below! Photo ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Orphanage, Broadstone House, Essex School for the Young… Scheunemann’s penchant for graphics is dynamic throughout the film. “It works on the edge with elements from North American comic propaganda from the forties and fifties. And then we mixed in the insane ideas of the Headmaster, and also visuals that were a little bit fascist in their touch...and the set dec team had some brilliant detail-people that came up with really fun stuff.” Photo by Joe Lederer ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Orphanage, Broadstone House, Essex School for the Young… This is what happens when one tortures a mutant... Julian Dennison. Image ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.