After the massive success of ‘Deadpool’, it’s no surprise that the team is already developing a sequel. However, one of the biggest questions now is whether or not the follow-up to the long-awaited spinoff starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc With A Mouth will feature more appearances from the X-Men? After all, Colossus seemed pretty adamant about getting Wade Wilson to join the team. Also, the studio is sure to give director Tim Miller and company more money this time around to make it happen. But is that really the best next step for the fan favorite fourth wall breaking antihero? The writers recently weighed in with their thoughts on the subject.
While speaking to Indiewire about all things ‘Deadpool’ (and some things ‘Zombieland’), Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick talked about the possibility of Wade teaming up with the X-Men on the big screen in the near future. Though that’s definitely something that the duo could see happening, they aren’t exactly looking to make it happen right away. In fact, they may be taking a page out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s playbook:
Reese: “If you look at the ‘Iron Man’ model they had two ‘Iron Man’ [movies] before they had an ‘Avengers,’ and if left up to us, I think that would be a very prudent path. The second issue at hand is the ‘X-Men’ universe timeline. ‘The X-Men’ series is currently set in the 1980s, ‘Deadpool,’ is set three decades later in our present day.”
Wernick: “It’s a timeline that will eventually catch up I would imagine. But [‘X-Men’ producer] Simon [Kingberg’s] more the keeper of that universe and maybe we’ll see more X-Men playing in Deadpool’s sandbox and probably Deadpool playing in their sandbox at some point.”
As fans who really want to see Deadpool interact with characters like Wolverine, Cyclops, and Jean Grey, it’s easy to forget that the X-Men movies are now taking place a few decades in the past, so the writers bring up a very interesting point here. But that definitely isn’t a bad thing, especially for 20th Century Fox. Wernick continued by touching on the fact that they have a franchise-ception sort of situation going on here:
“Deadpool’s now become a brand and franchise unto himself, independent of the ‘X-Men’ and that’s great. And that gives the studio two franchises in one, but I think it is its own franchise, and you’ll see synergy between those two properties, but they’re two very distinct brands.”
That’s definitely a good way to approach the integration of Deadpool into the X-Universe. Hopefully the creators behind the other spinoffs like ‘X-Force’, ‘Gambit’, and ‘New Mutants’ take the same approach so that Fox’s corner of the Marvel Universe has a much stronger foundation before bringing them all together for an epic crossover event like ‘The Avengers’.
What do you think about Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese’s comments about a crossover between ‘Deadpool’ and ‘X-Men’? While there probably won’t be a full on mash-up any time soon, which X-Men characters would you like to see pop up in Wade Wilson’s next adventure? Let us know in the comments.
