Rob Liefeld Responds to Deadpool Being Included in Disney Chairman Bob Iger's Twitter Header
After making claims Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios have 'zero' plans for Deadpool 3 following [...]
After making claims Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios have "zero" plans for Deadpool 3 following Disney's acquisition of former Fox properties X-Men and Deadpool, Rob Liefeld, the character's creator, says he's "doing the Lord's work" upon seeing Deadpool included in an updated profile header image decorating the Twitter profile of Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger. In the two years since Fox released Deadpool 2, franchise star and producer Ryan Reynolds revealed a third movie, potentially set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is in development at Marvel Studios. Lambasting a lack of progress in a May 9 interview with ComicBook.com, Liefeld said, "Blame Marvel that [Deadpool 3] hasn't happened yet. They are the reason it isn't happening."
Addressing Iger's updated header image on Instagram, Liefeld wrote, "Bob has a new header. I'm doing the Lord's work here people." Liefeld included the hashtag "never stop never stopping."
The updated header image includes Deadpool alongside other IPs formerly controlled by Fox, including Bart Simpson of The Simpsons fame and a Na'vi, the blue-skinned alien species from James Cameron's Avatar. Pictured alongside Disney classics like Mickey Mouse and Tinkerbell are several Marvel Studios superheroes — Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and Iron Man — and such characters as Baby Yoda, breakout star of live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian, and various characters representing the animated libraries of Walt Disney Animation and Pixar Animation Studios.
This latest Disney family portrait has covered Iger's profile since at least March 1 of this year, before Liefeld spoke out against Feige's MCU plans. Iger's updated header replaces a similar collage depicting company co-founder Walt Disney surrounded by characters from Disney's high-profile brands, including Marvel ambassadors Captain America and Iron Man.
In March 2019, hours after Disney completed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, the Walt Disney Company website was updated with a new banner image depicting the most notable Fox properties — The Simpsons, Avatar, and Deadpool — displaying them prominently among the newly expanded Disney portfolio.
After confirming the Deadpool, Fantastic Four and X-Men properties would move forward under the Marvel Studios banner, then-CEO Iger declared plans for a "Marvel-branded" Deadpool and revealed the company would consider maintaining the franchise's R rating.
Liefeld was initially confident in a Deadpool threequel under Disney, writing in a January 2019 tweet, "Deadpool 3 will happen, some form, some fashion. That's not a concern to me. Disney paid $60 billion for Fox and Deadpool is [its] most valuable asset in today's market. Makes more than X-Men films."
When adding to recent claims that Marvel and Feige have no plans for a Deadpool 3, Liefeld said in a May 15 interview that "there is no movement" on a third movie.
"Regardless of whatever inside perspective I may have, what I do know is that until a movie is put on a schedule, it's not taken seriously," Liefeld told io9 of Marvel Studios' Phase 4 and Phase 5 plans. "And what people don't like is that I have assessed the schedule for the next, give or take, five years and I don't see Deadpool on it. [So] I don't see that it can arrive earlier than that."
