Deadpool 2 has had to overcome a few creative speedbumps, but it’s now back on track. With a new director (John Wick‘s David Leitch) and some big X-Men characters being introduced to the movie universe for the first time (Cable, Domino) it’s going to truly be a bigger sequel.
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Fans are still waiting on an official Cable casting announcement, but we now know that Atlanta star Zazie Beetz is playing Domino. With those two major characters joining the film, X-Men fans have been wondering just how much of Deadpool 2 will be used as a launchpad to upcoming X-Men movies like X-Force. While out doing the press tour for their new film Life, Deadpool 1 & 2 writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick broke down how Deadpool will be investing its screen time.
According to the writers, Deadpool 2 will indeed (at least in part) be used to set up the X-Force team ensemble; but once that film is launched, Deadpool 3 would actually be able to narrow its focus back down ot its central character. As Reese told Cinemablend:
“It’s working in an expansive way towards X-Force, which will really be more of an ensemble. But then that will allow us to do both an X-Force movie and a Deadpool 3, which actually contracts back down… So I think we’ll be able to take two paths. One is where we’re launching something bigger, but then another where we’re contracting and staying personal and small. So I think best of all worlds, really.”
Of course, some fans will hear that plan and start worrying about Deadpool 2 falling into the same trap as, say, Marvel’s Iron Man 2 – which is now infamous for subverting a standalone character story with a lot of Avengers world-building. Reese and Wernick are all to aware of that concern, and won’t let the larger demands of the X-Men universe distract them from delivering a satisfying Deadpool sequel. As Reese explained:
“Our first goal is to tell a Deadpool story in an emotional, fun, satisfying way. And then the fact that we’re setting up something in the future — it’s happening, but you’re not gonna see that mustache-twirling villain, who is going ‘Hahaha, [it’s all coming into place].’ You’re just not going to see that, because that’s not our game.
…Deadpool is a character piece, Deadpool is the leader of this very dysfunctional family. There are new people coming into that family, and there are old people that you’ve fallen in love with — with the conflict between Deadpool and, for example, Colossus and NTW. So yeah, it’s a delicate balance, but primarily keeping a Deadpool movie.”
The bottom line here is that every comic book movie franchise faces these sorts of sophomore hurdles now, and Deadpool 2 has something to prove in regards to getting this balance between solo character and franchise universe right. While it’s easy to believe in a quality storytelling team like Reese and Wernick, history has proven time and again that a studio can force disruptive crossover connections into a film, for the sake of selling the larger franchise universe.
That’s all to say: good intentions only take you so far in the movie biz…
MORE: Cable And Wade’s Dynamic Explained / Logan & Deadpool Would-be Trailer / Deadpool’s Colossus Reveals Which X-Men Property He’d Like To Appear In [Exclusive]
The Deadpool sequel, which is being directed by David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde) and written by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, is currently in pre-production and is expected to begin filming at the end of this spring. The film will introduce Deadpool’s time-traveling mutant partner, Cable, as well as X-Force member Domino, who is being portrayed by Atlanta actress Zazie Beetz. Supporting charactersfrom the original film — such as Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and taxi driver Dopinder (Karan Soni) — are also expected to return.
Deadpool 2 will arrive in theaters in 2018.
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Image Credit: Marvel Comics
