'Deadpool' Producers on Whether or Not the R-Rated Franchise Will Survive the Disney/Fox Merger

The family-friendly Walt Disney Company has made a move to buy 21st Century Fox, along with all of its properties. This includes all of the Marvel rights currently at Fox, like the R-rated Deadpool franchise.

Since the deal was made, we have all speculated as to what this merger could mean for Deadpool, considering the vulgar and violent tone of the franchise doesn't exactly "gel" Disney properties like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Could the acquisition by Disney mean the end of the road for the Deadpool that we know and love?

According to franchise producer and star Ryan Reynolds, there probably isn't anything to worry about. EW asked the actor what the merger meant for his beloved film series, and he was optimistic about what's to come.

"I really genuinely don't know a thing about it," Reynolds admitted. "I read that [CEO and chairman] Bob Iger felt that there's plenty of room in that universe to have a rated-R character like Deadpool. This is completely conjecture on my part, but I wouldn't imagine that Disney bought Fox to dismantle it or something like that. I think that Disney bought Fox so it could have that in its arsenal."

Reynolds does bring up a good point. The Deadpool franchise is a money-making machine. There would be no reason for Disney to completely abandon it, even if the company is attempting to work the X-Men characters into the MCU at some point.

X-Men and Deadpool producer Simon Kinberg echoed Reynolds' statements about the entire situation being a bit of an unknown. However, he revealed that, for the time being, everything is moving forward as planned.

"We haven't had any discussions yet about what the Disney acquisition of Fox would look like for the Marvel properties because I think legally they're not allowed to talk about it until it's done," Kinberg said. "So no we haven't talked about it all. We're just moving forward as we move forward. Once Drew Goddard's ready we'll get into X-Force and, believe it or not, we're still trying to get Gambit [starring Channing Tatum] up and running. The hope is to keep moving forward until we hear otherwise. To me, I have no idea what to expect but I think it could be really exciting."

Do you think Deadpool will continue once Disney completes the purchase? Will he ever make his way to the MCU? Let us know your thoughts on the subject in the comments below!

Deadpool 2 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 18, followed one week later by Disney and Lucasfilm's Solo: A Star Wars Story on May 25.