That’s not Ryan Reynolds dancing in the Deadpool & Wolverine opening credits

Warning: Spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine opening credits ahead.

As he’s proven through his acting prowess and many successful ventures in life, Ryan Reynolds is a man of many talents. There’s one burning question when it comes his latest film, the box-office record-setting Deadpool & Wolverine, where Reynolds dons the Deadpool suit for a third time: Is that Ryan Reynolds dancing in Deadpool & Wolverine‘s opening credits scene to “Bye Bye Bye” by *NSYNC? As much as we want to and more importantly can believe that it’s Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool nailing some of the sweetly choreographed dance steps to the Grammy-nominated song which hit number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 when it was released in January 2000, the actor has confirmed in fact that it’s not him. Maximum effort though, Ryan.

“He’s doing a lot of the moves that have been established previously by *NSYNC,” Reynolds said of the dancer, choreographer Nick Pauley, who can be seen as a dance-double for Reynolds in the Deadpool costume in the opening credits to Deadpool & Wolverine.

The opening credits scene sees Deadpool incongruously butchering a squadron of TVA Agents with the exhumed adamantium skeleton of Wolverine from 2017’s Logan to the upbeat pop song, with such lyrics as “Don’t want to be a fool for you/ Just another player in your game for two/ You may hate me but it ain’t no lie/ Baby bye bye bye,” describes the end of a relationship, perhaps alluding to the end of Deadpool and Wolverine’s tenure in 20th Century Fox films now that the studio was acquired by Disney in 2019. On that note, and exhumed adamantium-skeleton-laden corpses notwithstanding, I guess technically Deadpool & Wolverine doesn’t mess with the Logan timeline, just like Jackman and Reynolds promised in past interviews.

“If it looks like the person who’s dancing doesn’t have arthritis, that’s [Pauley],” Reynolds added.

That’s not to say Reynolds didn’t perform any of the dance moves in the Deadpool & Wolverine opening credits. Because he did bust a few moves.

“There’s the moments where, you know, there’s a bit of a pop and lock,” Reynolds continued, indicating that those moments are actually him as Deadpool dancing to NSYNC. “The pop really pops, like it cracks. And the lock will not unlock.”

The 47-year-old Reynolds added, “I will hang on Nick Pauley’s talent. I will hang my hat on his talent there and thank him for his contribution and services.”

What do you think of the fact that it’s (mostly) not Ryan Reynolds dancing in the Deadpool & Wolverine opening credits scene? Are you really that surprised? Did you enjoy the Deadpool & Wolverine opening credits scene? Let us know in the comments.