‘Sometimes You Have to Kill Your Darlings’: Ryan Reynolds Explains Why He Cut Rob McElhenney From ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

The most powerful and high-profile bromance in comedy couldn’t survive the ruthlessness of the editing room.

The relationship between the Welcome to Wrexham stars and Wrexham A.F.C. owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds is every bit as public and intriguing as that of any other A-list celebrity power couple. Even if the duo of McElReynolds is slightly (or supposedly) more platonic than the Branjelinas and TomKats of the aughts and despite the fact that McElhenney and Reynolds’ names cannot combine in a way that remotely rolls off the tongue, the personal and professional partnership between the star and creator of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Deadpool himself is absolutely buzzing with all the tabloid-attracting drama and scandalous quarrels of any other top celebrity twosome.

Over the last few weeks, McElhenney has made headlines for publicly and passive-aggressively discussing how, during the production of Deadpool & Wolverine, he flew all the way to London to make a guest appearance in the record-breaking R-rated action-comedy only for Reynolds to omit his cameo from the final cut of the film.

Earlier today, Reynolds posted a response to his partner’s public side-eye, explaining how, “While editing a movie, they say you ‘sometimes have to kill your darlings.’” I guess that’s also why Sugar Bear had to bite the dust in Deadpool 2.

“A word on my ‘darling’ friend, @robmcelhenney.,” Reynolds wrote, telling us (and McElhenney) what we already knew, “Rob very kindly did a cameo in #DeadpoolAndWolverine which will hopefully live on in the digital extras. With a heavy heart (and through great outside intervention) I had to kill a darling with this cameo…”

Wrote Reynolds of the reasoning behind the cut, “The sequence wasn’t working the way we’d originally constructed it. Rob was the only reason it stayed in the cut for as long as it did, because even under a TVA mask and helmet, you can feel him smoldering with a raw and almost infinite reservoir of talent, writerly wit and ‘I create hit TV shows’ swagger.” 

Then, in case the Instagram non-apology wasn’t complimentary enough, Reynolds said of their partnership, “Don’t even get me started on Wrexham. I wouldn’t know a love like @wrexham_afc if it weren’t for Rob McElhenney.”

Reynolds continued to say that, though McElhenney never appeared on screen, having him present put Reynolds at ease during a particularly stressful production process that proved to be the most profitable project of Reynolds’ non-Mint-Mobile-related career. Reynolds touchingly wrote, “When I see Rob, my heart-rate slows and my nervous system stops yelling at me. He shows up for people. And he showed up for me.”

Although the post was conspicuously absent the clear “I’m so sorry, please forgive me, Always Sunny was funnier before we were friends” that McElhenney's Reynolds-hating stans likely expected, the expressive post was more than enough to publicly clear the air with Reynolds’ life partner himself. 

McElhenney, who is currently hard at work with his own creative team coming up with the scripts for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 17, commented under Reynolds' post, “How am I supposed to go back to writing dick jokes today?”