Deadpool 2 Writers Describe Director David Leitch's Lively Vision

03/20/2017 11:08 pm EDT

Deadpool was stuck in development hell for years, but once director Tim Miller's test footage was leaked online and the response to it was off the charts good, 20th Century Fox finally gave it a green-light. With a modest budget (for a superhero film being produced by a major studio) and the freedom of an R-rating, Deadpool went on to shatter box office records, left and right.

With all that success, fans thought the sequel would be smooth sailing, but it hasn't been so far. Yes, Ryan Reynolds and the original screenwriters, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, were brought back, but Miller left due to "creative differences."

Miller was replaced David Leitch. Before co-directing John Wick, he was known as an in-demand second-unit director who uses his creativity and skill to come up with groundbreaking action sequences.

While being interviewed about their new sci-fi thriller Life, Reese and Wernick were asked if it has been any different working with Leitch as opposed to Tim Miller.

"It's been phenomenal, David has his own, you know, point of view that's different from Tim's," Reese told IGN. "He comes into a situation obviously where there already exists a tone and a style, so he's going to stay pretty close to that, I think. But at the same time, he brings a new approach and it's enlivened us definitely to try new things and to do things a little bit different from the first Deadpool. Not drastically, but enough that you get the sense that it's coming from a slightly different team.

"We love Tim Miller to death, we also love Dave now," he continued. "I think you'll be very satisfied with what we're cooking up. We are loving our script right now, and the direction that it's headed. So I think audiences hopefully will be pleased."

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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 characters from 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 theater in 2018.

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