Fox Already Planning Deadpool 3 With X-Force Included

Earlier today it came to light that FOX is considering hitting the reset button on it’s X-Men franchise, and while the news hasn’t been rosy recently for the X-Men, there is still the bright spot of Deadpool.

Deadpool kicked off a potential franchise for the studio, which was fantastic timing since the last core entry, X-Men: Apocalypse, didn’t meet the high bar set by X-Men: Days of Future Past. When Deadpool took a relatively small budget of $58 million and roped in over $782 million worldwide.

It’s easy to understand then why FOX greenlit a sequel so quickly, and for awhile there it was all sunshine and rainbows, until it wasn’t. Recently director Tim Miller walked off the project citing creative differences with star Ryan Reynolds. That massive shakeup hasn’t dimmed the studio’s hopes for the project, however, and they’ve attempted to fill the spot quickly. They are in current negotiations with David Leitch (John Wick) to fill the director’s chair, but even more surprising is that according to THR sources, FOX has already started work on Deadpool 3. Those sources say that FOX has a great deal of faith in Reynolds and Deadpool, and will start their director search for it soon. The film is rumored to involve another popular group in the X-Men mythos, X-Force.

As to why all the shakeup on Deadpool, reports say Miller wanted to maintain the balance of raunchy comedy and narrative from the first film but also wanted to significantly increase the budget to rival other films in the genre. Reynolds was more interested in keeping the same guerilla feel from the first film in regards to budget and wanted more comedy elements inserted in the script. The two could not find a common platform, and finally parted ways.

FOX can plan all it wants, but if Deadpool 2 can’t keep the ship afloat, then it does them no good to plan for a third entry in the series. Hopefully, the team can find a director and get on the same page quickly, as fans don’t want to see this franchise go away prematurely.

Deadpool 2 is currently slated to land in theaters on March 2, 2018.