Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy has spoken about the MCU, superhero fatigue, and his hopes that Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s team-up feature will “break molds.”

Levy got candid about the MCU and its fanbase in the new issue of Total Film (via GamesRadar). He pointed out the coincidence of Deadpool & Wolverine’s plot being about saving the Sacred Timeline at a time when the MCU is under scrutiny, with diminishing box office returns and mixed reviews for several recent entries.

We had no idea it would be this unique moment where people are asking what the MCU means any more.

“What Kevin Feige has built with the MCU is historic as far as a string of successes, but culture has its tide chart, culture has ebbs and flows, and one thing we do know is you can’t keep doing the same thing ad nauseum and expect people to greet it with the same excitement,” Levy explained. “It just worked out really fortuitously because our movie is not like any MCU movie… and I say that as a fan of a lot of MCU movies.

“We had no idea it would be this unique moment where people are asking what the MCU means any more,” he added about the serendipitous timing of the third Deadpool movie. “Can it surprise us? Can it break molds in ways that we don’t expect? We certainly hope that this movie is an answer to those questions.”

Marvel Studios co-president Louis D’Esposito and MCU leader Kevin Feige previously acknowledged that the studio had been going through a rough patch of late but asserted that they want to regain lost ground and feel that they’re “coming back strong” with the release of Deadpool & Wolverine on the horizon.

Disney has also announced plans for Marvel to release no more than three movies and two shows annually. Deadpool & Wolverine is setting the precedent as it is the only MCU movie coming out this year. Set to debut on July 26, it’s easily one of the most anticipated releases and could invigorate a so-far fairly slow summer box office.

Tickets for Deadpool & Wolverine went on sale in May and it soon broke a pre-sales record for R-rated movies at AMC, with fans gearing up to uncover some Strange sorcery, a few unexpected cameos, and plenty of other details on the big screen (if they’re not too distracted by the movie’s limited-edition popcorn bucket, that is).