Shawn Levy credits 'The Pink Panther' for shaping his comedy style in Marvel films

Shawn Levy said a pivotal scene from the 2006 crime comedy The Pink Panther taught him how to make the camera a “participant” in a joke, lessons he later applied to his Marvel blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine.

In an exclusive interview with People, the 57-year-old director reflected on how working with Steve Martin, Beyoncé and the rest of the star-studded cast influenced his filmmaking style.

“I remember this moment early in my career where Clouseau pulls out a newspaper to hide his face, doesn’t see the subway entrance, and falls down the stairs,” Levy recalled. “I realized the frame itself can tell the joke, and more often than not, the simpler approach is the funnier approach.”

Levy said he had experimented with complex camera moves on other projects but found they often “muddied the laugh.” The unbroken shot of Martin tumbling, by contrast, perfectly delivered the comedy.

“That movie was my first education in how the camera should participate in the joke,” Levy said. “It shaped how I approached scenes years later on films like Deadpool & Wolverine, where we had a massive single-shot sequence with Deadpool fighting over 60 versions of himself. The principle was the same.”

The Pink Panther, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this February, starred Martin as Inspector Jacques Clouseau alongside Beyoncé, Jean Reno, Kevin Kline, Emily Mortimer and Henry Czerny. 

Levy praised the cast and crew’s respect for the legacy of the franchise, noting, “Everybody came with respect for the screenplay and the character Steve Martin had created. We wanted the fun off-screen to translate on-screen, and seeing audiences embrace it was incredibly gratifying.”

Levy, whose career includes Night at the Museum, Date Night, and episodes of Stranger Things, says the lessons from The Pink Panther continue to influence his approach to comedy, visual storytelling and action.

The Pink Panther is currently available to stream on Kanopy and Roku TV.