Ryan Reynolds embraces the Cold War roots of Mayday, and the movie’s 1987 setting turns out to be much more than a nostalgic backdrop.
The Cold War was still part of everyday life in the late 1980s. Ronald Reagan was in the White House, tensions between the United States and Soviet Union remained high, and that rivalry had worked its way into American popular culture. Movies were certainly part of it. Just a few years earlier, Rocky IV had built one of the decade’s biggest movie showdowns around an American boxer taking on a seemingly unstoppable Soviet opponent.
That makes the Cold War setting of Mayday especially important to the story.
The movie stars Ryan Reynolds as an American military pilot who unexpectedly finds himself stranded in Russia after crash-landing there. Surviving the accident would already be a major problem, but being an American serviceman trapped on Soviet soil in 1987 makes his situation considerably more dangerous.
Ryan Reynolds embraces the 1987 setting of Mayday
Things become even more complicated when Reynolds’ character is discovered by a former KGB agent played by Kenneth Branagh. A former Soviet intelligence officer is hardly the person an American pilot would hope to meet. Instead, Branagh’s character becomes an unlikely ally. He may also be Reynolds’ best chance of getting out safely.
For Ryan Reynolds, the Mayday Cold War setting adds another layer to that relationship. Ryan Reynolds embraces the 1987 backdrop because it shapes how the two men see each other. They don’t meet without preconceived ideas. Both come from countries that spent decades viewing the other side with suspicion. That history hangs over them before they have a chance to really understand each other.
As Ryan Reynolds explores that Cold War dynamic, the movie also plays with the assumptions both characters bring with them. That was one of the elements Reynolds appreciated about the story. It also helps explain why the 1987 setting matters so much to Mayday.
Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh find an unlikely partnership
The relationship between Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh is built around two characters who seemingly should have very little reason to trust one another. As Ryan Reynolds embraces the Cold War setting of Mayday, that uneasy dynamic becomes a big part of what makes their partnership work.
One is an American military pilot. The other is a former KGB agent. Put them together during the final years of the Cold War, and even an ordinary conversation can carry extra tension. Ryan Reynolds leans into that 1987 backdrop as the story explores how both men have been shaped by years of suspicion between their countries.
That also gives Mayday something beyond its action setup. As Ryan Reynolds explores the unlikely partnership, the two characters are forced to deal with their assumptions about each other while facing a much more immediate problem: getting Reynolds’ character out of Russia.
Mayday uses its Cold War backdrop for more than nostalgia
Period movies can sometimes use the past mainly as decoration, but the 1987 setting of Mayday affects the central relationship.
An American pilot and former KGB agent would already make for an unusual pairing. Setting their story at a time when the United States and Soviet Union were still geopolitical rivals gives their growing partnership another obstacle to overcome.
For Ryan Reynolds, that tension between the two men, and everything the Cold War backdrop brings with it, was one of the elements he spoke about when discussing what drew him to the story.
Click on the video to hear Ryan Reynolds.
Mayday is currently streaming on Apple TV.
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