‘Deadpool’ Writers Talk Sequel Plans And Trying To Fit In A Wolverine Crossover

Ryan Reynolds has been on a one-man quest recently to fold Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine into the Deadpool universe, repeatedly suggesting that the mutants need to have their very own crossover film. Hugh Jackman isn’t quite as convinced that it will work, while Deadpool’s writers have now admitted that a potential Wolverine and Deadpool film would cause them to rethink their current sequel plans.

First things first, though, both Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick made it clear to The Playlist that they couldn’t quite believe that they were even discussing the possibility of a Deadpool and Wolverine film. Paul Wernick noted that the popularity of Deadpool has come a long way since he made his debut on the big-screen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, while admitting that the chance to pair together Deadpool and Wolverine on the big-screen would be too good to turn down.

“We’ve come a long way from 2009, when we couldn’t get the movie off the ground ’til now. And to have [this team-up]? It would be amazing to have Hugh resurrect Wolverine in the Deadpool universe, and again, Ryan’s making a hard push to make that happen, and hopefully the public gets behind it and we can all convince Hugh to put the claws on one more time.”

But while Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese would love the chance to work on a Deadpool and Wolverine film, they also admitted that if Hugh Jackman did agree to it, the sequels that are currently in the pipeline would have to be moved around.

Currently, the plan is to follow up the impending release of Deadpool 2 with an X-Force film and then Deadpool 3. Since these films all include various members of the X-Men teaming up, Rhett Reese acknowledged that the Deadpool universe probably doesn’t have room for another “team-up movie.”

“Yeah, it would, if you think about it. If you’re looking at Deadpool 2, if you’re looking at X-Force, if you’re looking at Deadpool 3, there’s not necessarily room for [another] team-up movie. I think it does create real scheduling and universe issues and something that could be ironed out, but it would need to be ironed out.”

Rhett Reese made it clear, though, that no one working within this universe is doing so under the assumption that a Deadpool and Wolverine film is actually going to happen, and they’re proceeding with their usual plan for the time being. However, they’re very much aware that fan demand, and the potential success of Logan, could lead to Hugh Jackman changing his mind and Wolverine joining the franchise.

“I don’t think any of us operated under the assumption that it would be even possible to do a Deadpool/Wolverine thing, so we just haven’t planned for it, it’s still not in the plan, but if it were to happen, it would require a hard look at the overall architecture of our storylines.”

First things first, though, they have to make sure that Deadpool 2 is a worthy and successful follow-up to the hugely successful origin film. When Deadpool was released back in February 2016, it went on to become the most successful film in the X-Men cannon, grossing $783.1 million at the box office and being met with superlative reviews.

However, Ryan Reynolds has been more than open about the creative differences and arguments that he had with its director Tim Miller during the shoot. Ultimately, these boiled over into the very early pre-production for Deadpool 2. So much so that Tim Miller made the decision to depart the franchise, and he was replaced by John Wick’s co-director David Leitch shortly after.

Earlier this week, David Leitch also sat down to discuss the future of the Deadpool franchise, specifically how he plans to both honor yet expand upon the first film, as he told JoBlo that Deadpool 2 still needs to feel like “the little superhero movie that could” and be a “fun irreverent movie.”

“There is this fun irreverent nature to Deadpool which is why I fell in love with it. Which is why I’m honored to be a part of the franchise. I think you want to keep the DNA of that. It’s going to be fun to spin out the world a little bit and expand it. You just have to on a sequel. But we want to stay true to that, the little superhero movie that could. It is the fun irreverent movie.”

[Featured Image by 20th Century Fox]