Biggest Dangers And Details Behind Deadpool 2
In 2016, Deadpool reaffirmed Ryan Reynolds' star power in bombastic fashion. Critics liked it; fans adored it. A post-modern action-romance-horror tragicomedy about a superhero who has more in common with murderous supervillains than goody-two-shoes world-savers, Deadpool would go on to become the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time. As Hollywood works to churn out a sequel, a number of unanticipated details have affected fans' anticipation—some for the better, others for the worse.
Original director Tim Miller isn't returning
Billed in the opening credits as "an overpaid tool," Deadpool Director Tim Miller got the character. He understood what makes the crimson-wearing, gun-toting, ammo bag-forgetting, murder-happy merc with a mouth every Marvel fan's favorite amoral antihero—or so it would seem from the final version of the film.
Behind the scenes, however, Reynolds and Miller reportedly clashed on a number of points—including the fourth-wall-breaking asides and cartoonish sight gags. According to rumor, the director wanted to take the sequel in the direction of traditional superhero movies and Reynolds wasn't having it. However, Miller denied all that on the CG Garage podcast, saying, "I wanted to make the same kind of movie that we made before because I think that's the right movie to make for the character. So don't believe what you read on the internet." And that, friends, is something you just read on the internet.
Composer Junkie XL isn't returning either
Deadpool's atmospheric techno-orchestral score goes too often overlooked. Few reviews even mention it, yet its Moog-like breakdowns, sweeping horns, sudden shifts, and speed-freak drumbeats set the movie's schizophrenic tone. So, naturally, when we learned that Junkie XL wouldn't be returning for the sequel, we were disheartened. In a press release, Junkie XL cited the departure of the original director. "Deadpool without Tim [Miller] at the helm just does not sit right with me and that is why I have decided not to be involved in the second chapter." Whoever takes his place will have big shoes to fill.
Bringing in Wolverine could be awesome—or a huge mistake
A lot of people have hoped to see Deadpool's ugly, semi-zombified mug in the upcoming uber-gritty Wolverine flick Logan. In the words of Deadpool's writer Rhett Reese, "That's not happening. The tones are just too different." That said, he confirmed the possibility of the two characters appearing in some other movie together. Could it be Deadpool 2?
Rumor has it that Ryan Reynolds is "pulling for" a Wolverine-Deadpool collaboration. After all, he does have Logan to thank for having his "very own movie."
Deadpool 2 will condense Cable's utterly absurd backstory
Cable's paradoxical backstory is categorically bonkers. Involving time travel, an affair between Cyclops and a clone of Jean Grey, a patently absurd (but totally awesome) techno-organic virus (which turns human flesh to metal), and a ton of other equally strange details that we don't have the time to get into right now, Cable's tale of Apocalypse-hunting woe is the sort of manic, convoluted mess that makes reading Marvel comics fun. Created by Chris Claremont, Cable is far more powerful than he ever shows, because he's constantly using his powers to keep the techno-organic virus from turning his entire body into metal.
Deadpool 2's version of Cable's origins will allegedly be both "authentic" to his paradoxical nature and also condensed for watchability's sake. We hope the writers know what they're doing.
Deadpool's X-Men sidekicks confirmed for Deadpool 2
Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) did two things for Deadpool: they tied it into the wider Marvel movie franchises, and—far more importantly—they gave Deadpool plenty of opportunities to make a murderous fool of himself. Colossus's noble, no-nonsense superheroics and Negasonic Teenage Warhead's permanently jaded sensibilities were great foils for Ryan Reynolds' hyperactive, overstimulated yet soft-spoken take on Wade Wilson.
X-Men fans know Colossus' metallic mug, but who's the magical goth girl with the ridiculous name? Negasonic Teenage Warhead—real name Ellie Phimister—is the brainchild of writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely. She was introduced by name in New X-Men #116. Why the crazy mutant moniker? As Emma Frost explains, "She chose it herself," presumably after listening to the Monster Magnet song. In the comics, she's a minor character with milder superpowers—specifically, telepathy and precognition. The movie augmented and altered her abilities.
Good news! They're both returning for the sequel.
Though a veteran stuntman, David Leitch is relatively untested as a director
When Miller walked away from the project, fans suggested potential replacements. Notably, an online petition made the rounds on Change.org, calling for Quentin Tarantino to fill the vacancy. The petition amassed over 17,000 signatures, but that's about all it accomplished. While he might not be up for making a superhero movie, Tarantino feels pretty good about the overabundance of superhero franchises, going so far as to lament the fact that it took so long for Hollywood to catch up to comic books. "I've had my own Marvel Universe obsessions for years," he told New York magazine. "So I don't really have a problem with the whole superhero thing right now, except I wish I didn't have to wait until my 50s for this to be the dominant genre." The question remained; who would direct Deadpool 2?
Enter David Leitch. The new director's biggest project behind the camera was as co-director of the Keanu Reeves action vehicle John Wick. Before that, he did stunt coordination. As a stunt coordinator, he's more than proved his mettle; as a solo-flying director, he hasn't yet. We can only hope he does a better job than Joel Schumacher (and company) did with the post-Tim Burton Batman franchise.
Deadpool 2 to set up X-Force franchise...will it still be Deadpool enough for fans?
Deadpool 2 has the undesirable distinction of being both a sequel and a prequel. Unlike the first Deadpool, which was self-contained and thus had some wiggle room for experimentation, the sequel will need to tie in to an upcoming Avengers-style X-Force franchise via Cable. X-Force was an anti-terrorism vigilante faction whose bloody methods led to its becoming what it hated in the minds of the public and the government—a terrorist group. In this light, Miller's rumored desire for a more "traditional" sequel makes logistical sense.
Juggling multiple main characters onscreen can be a challenge, even for veteran directors. (David Lynch's hard-to-follow adaptation of Dune comes to mind.) As ensemble pieces, the X-Force movies already run the risk of becoming a muddled mess. For simplicity's sake, if Deadpool 2—which will feature Cable, founder of the X-Force, as the main antagonist—removes, or tones down, the post-modern elements, then future directors won't have to worry about matching Deadpool's irreverent style. But where's the fun in that?
Deadpool might get a boyfriend in Deadpool 2
Wade Wilson's pansexuality is one of the few major differentiators between him and the DC character he directly parodies, Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke—the others being the cancer storyline and postmodern fourth wall awareness.
Much was made of Deadpool's pansexuality in the lead-up to the first movie, and rightly so. In the typically heteronormative worlds of comic book characters, Deadpool's sexuality has always been an anomaly. This is by design, according to a series of tweets from co-creator Fabian Nicieza. "[Ambiguous sexuality] has ALWAYS been a part of [Deadpool's] makeup," said Nicieza. That hasn't stopped homophobic revisionism among an unfortunate subset of Marvel fans.
Still, some critics, and even Ryan Reynolds himself, want to see more of Deadpool's ambiguous sexuality onscreen. Reynolds has been pulling for Deadpool to explore what Nicieza calls the "omnisexual, pansexual, heterosexual, homosexual, etc. aspects of [his] character" in the sequel; specifically, Reynolds wants Deadpool to find a man in Deadpool 2. Thus far, the cinematic Deadpool's non-heterosexual interactions have been either flirtations or threats...with the exception of that scene with the unicorn.
Deadpool 3 has been confirmed
Gone are the days of producers doubting a movie based on a comic book would be able to sell tickets. Superheroes don't get a movie anymore; they get franchises. In the case of Deadpool, multiple sequels make sense from the financiers' perspective. Still, we're not without some doubts. As we learned the hard way from the Wachowski siblings' woefully uneven Matrix trilogy, just because a studio commissions a trilogy upfront doesn't mean the story warrants three movies.
What will Deadpool 3's story cover? While we'd love to see a cinematic interpretation of the Deadpool and Death love triangle with—of all beings—Thanos, that doesn't appear to be in the cards. Instead, Deadpool 3 is slated to bring the entire X-Force together on screen for the first time. Will it follow the Deadpool Vs. X-Force demented time-traveling plotline? We'll just have to wait and see.