Does a Deadpool sequel, brought to you by the primary writers of Bob’s Burgers whet your appetite for more big-screen high jinx from The Merc with a Mouth? Corporate overlord Walt Disney Pictures hopes to serve comedy fans, as well as readers of the character’s comic books and cinema aficionados alike with the recent announcement that Deadpool 3 is a go after consulting star Ryan Reynolds and uber producer Kevin Feige. In fact, the pitch was Reynolds’ favorite, which means original writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick will no longer be involved with the franchise.
Is that a good thing?
Following the break-out success of Zombieland, the adaptation of G.I. Joe: Retaliation and the mediocre box office results of Zombieland: Double Tap, Rheese and Wernick are out of the loop this time around. Frankly, after rewatching Deadpool 2 not too long ago, a new direction for the character could be good for all involved. But fans of the franchise have so many questions.
Will the solo spin-offs continue with the hard R-rating? At least for now, the answer is yes. As a feature film, Deadpool was original, featuring a cursing character who continually broke the fourth wall, spouting a never-ending string of witty one-liners while being bloody violent. This superhero is very different from all the rest, and that is a good thing.
Will Cable return? This one seems to be the easiest. Even though Josh Brolin already portrayed Thanos in the Infinity War saga, it wouldn’t be the first time a previous actor or filmmaker returned for a different role in the MCU. Chris Evans previously portrayed Johnny Storm before suiting up as Captain America in the Marvel Universe. J.K. Simmons managed to crossover as J. Jonah Jameson and director Sam Raimi stepped into the MCU Multiverse for the next Doctor Strange film after bringing Sony’s original Spidey trilogy to the big screen. And then there’s rumblings of Jamie Foxx returning as Electro in Spidey’s next solo outing. So, stranger things have happened.
How will Wade Wilson fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe? I have no doubt Feige won’t have too many problems trying to force the foul-mouthed character into the shared universe that’s full of many, many crossover storylines. Firmly established into the X-Men Universe, Deadpool has long been a fan-favorite comic character, crossing over into many of Marvel’s titles. Speculation about Wade being toned down for team-ups is a safe bet.
Was another sequel necessary? Probably not. But the previous two films brought in major box-office revenue, so the idea had to be explored. Reading into some behind-the-scenes stories, this was seemingly done to appease Reynolds’ return for more films.
What’s the fate of that planned X-Force spin-off, featuring Deadpoolio? With Disney’s billion-dollar buyout, there’s a good chance those characters will receive the Feige treatment at some point in the future, but as of now, the planned film directed by Drew Goddard (LOST, The Martian, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Daredevil) has been swept away to production hell.
Will Disney+ debut this one? At the moment, where this movie gets distributed is unknown… it hasn’t even been written yet, let alone filmed. In the long run, its streaming home will eventually end up at the house of the mouse, but there’s no chance any production company would turn down $1 billion, which this one could easily bank.
How will this film look following COVID protocols? Again, it’s too soon to speculate, but there’s a very good chance the entire film industry will operate differently moving forward, once the pandemic is corralled.
Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin have signed up for a huge responsibility (aka burden): Don’t ruin the franchise, while adapting the popular character into all-new territory. This is in addition to balancing their workload of Bob’s Burgers and the soon-to-be released series, The Great North. I’ve got high hopes that everyone involved will bring their A-game, but it does seem like the franchise is taking a hard right from releases past. We’ll just have to wait to see what this may bring.