What’s the only thing harder than bringing a beloved comic book character to life on the bring screen and making a record-breaking hit movie? Doing it a second time. On today’s special (mostly spoiler-free but not entirely spoiler-free!) edition of Nerdist News Talks Back we were joined by Deadpool‘s writers to learn all about their second Merc with a Mouth movie.

Nerdist editors Dan Casey and Kyle Anderson welcomed Deadpool 2 screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to today’s show to talk about the highly anticipated sequel. They asked the duo about which new characters are coming into the franchise and what’s “fun” about the ones they chose. Reese and Wernick are comic book fans, so they came into the project with favorite characters and an idea about essential parts of Cable’s incredible backstory.

They also told us how much Ryan Reynolds was involved in the writing process with them. But how is he “the absolute best” even while he “makes you hate yourself?” Who could the still unrecognized cameo in the film be? How does having Deadpool’s voice “living in” their heads help them write for the character? How do they find the right balance between comedy and action? What could they be saving for a future movie? And what Longshot joke (yes, there was a Longshot joke) didn’t make the cut?

But we also asked them what they’re personally nerds about, the rumored Zombieland 2, why they didn’t want a Deadpool origin story initially, other comic characters they’d love to write for, why a joke about Disney that Ryan Reynolds wrote got cut, and their amazing idea for an end credits Chris Evans gag.

Don’t forget Nerdist News Talks Back airs live on our YouTube and Alpha channels at 1PM PT every Monday through Thursday, and tune in tomorrow as we end the week in pop culture with our hour-long Nerdist News What the Friday at 1PM PT, exclusively at Alpha. When you join us live to be a part of the discussion you help us form our very own little X-Force. But, like, if we were all Peter and our only power was great conversation.

What are you most looking forward to with Deadpool 2? Tell us in the ****ing comments section below.

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