Mayday: D&D Movie Directors Give Ryan Reynolds (And Us) a Break From Superheroes | Comic Con 2026

John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein have spent the last few years in fantasy and high‑stakes worlds — first with the heist comedy Game Night, then with the sprawling RPG adaptation Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. At San Diego Comic Con 2026, the directing duo sat down with IGN to talk about their next project, Mayday, and why they chose to pull way back from the epic scale.

Mayday stars Ryan Reynolds as a man caught in a grounded buddy action‑comedy, a deliberate pivot from the cape‑and‑cowl fatigue that has settled over Hollywood. The directors said the film is a return to the kind of character‑driven, practical‑stunt comedy they love, with a story that stays firmly on Earth — even if the characters occasionally find themselves staring down an ICBM missile.

From fantasy realms to real‑world streets

Coming off Dungeons & Dragons, which balanced elaborate fantasy set pieces with sharp banter, Daley and Goldstein wanted to make something that relied on clever writing and physical comedy rather than CGI dragons. According to the interview, the pair described Mayday as a “grounded buddy action‑comedy” that still has room for absurdity — just the kind audiences expect from a Ryan Reynolds vehicle.

The film’s title hints at an emergency situation, and the directors confirmed that the plot involves a genuine, terrifying missile crisis. During production, the crew filmed a sequence in a Hungarian city that involved a replica of an ICBM. The directors said the local population was genuinely alarmed by the sight of the missile prop, leading to a brief panic before authorities clarified it was a movie shoot. The anecdote, shared with the Comic Con audience, drew laughs but also underscored the production’s commitment to practical effects over digital trickery.

The Frito‑Lay question

One of the most talked‑about moments in the film involves Jesse Plemons, who co‑stars alongside Reynolds. During the IGN panel, Daley and Goldstein broke down the filming of a scene that features what they called “one of the greatest questions asked in a movie”: Plemons’ character, deadpan, asks “How can that be profitable for Frito‑Lay?”

The line is a callback to the kind of absurd, single‑beat comedy that made Game Night a cult favorite. The directors explained that the scene was shot in one take, with Reynolds and Plemons feeding off each other’s timing. The Frito‑Lay reference, they said, came from a real observation about snack‑industry economics that somehow found its way into the script and stuck.

A deliberate break from superheroes

The headline of the panel — “Mayday: D&D Movie Directors Give Ryan Reynolds (And Us) a Break From Superheroes” — was not accidental. Reynolds has spent the better part of a decade playing Deadpool, a meta‑superhero who constantly breaks the fourth wall about being a superhero. Daley and Goldstein acknowledged that Mayday offers Reynolds a chance to play a regular guy in an extraordinary situation, without the safety net of superpowers or franchise obligations.

“We wanted to see Ryan use his whole range — not just the wisecracks, but the genuine fear and frustration of a man who has no idea what he’s doing,” Goldstein said during the panel, according to IGN’s coverage. The directors noted that the film’s action sequences are built around Reynolds’ physical comedy, with stunts performed by the actor himself wherever possible.

What we still don’t know

The Comic Con presentation was light on plot specifics. The directors gave no release date, cast beyond Reynolds and Plemons, or studio details. The panel was presented in partnership with Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, Alienware, and BRISK x Splatoon Raiders, but no direct connection between those brands and the film was announced. It is possible that Mayday is still in production or early post‑production, with a formal rollout expected later in 2026.

Why this matters now

In an era where every major studio is chasing IP, Daley and Goldstein’s decision to make a mid‑budget original comedy feels almost rebellious. Mayday sits in a tradition of R‑rated buddy films — Midnight Run, The Nice Guys, Game Night itself — that rely on chemistry and setup rather than explosions and superpowers. If the missile‑panic anecdote and the Frito‑Lay line are any indication, the directors are betting that audiences are ready for something that does not require a decade of homework.

For Reynolds, the role marks another step away from the Marvel machine. After Deadpool & Wolverine broke box‑office records, he has been selective about his next moves. Mayday gives him a chance to show he can carry a movie without red spandex, and to prove that his comedic instincts work just as well on a city street as they do in a fourth‑wall‑breaking meta‑universe.

The Comic Con reaction

The panel room, according to IGN, responded warmly to the stories of practical stunts and the Hungarian city scare. Fans asked how the directors balanced comedy with real tension, and whether Mayday would have the same improvisational feel as Game Night. Daley and Goldstein said they encouraged Reynolds and Plemons to ad‑lib within a tight structure, keeping the scenes loose but the story on track.

As Comic Con 2026 continues, Mayday is one of the few original titles generating genuine buzz — a signal that, even in a franchise‑dominated landscape, audiences still crave a good, old‑fashioned buddy picture that asks the hard questions, like how snack‑food economics work when you’re staring down a missile.