Jeff Wadlow has superhero problems. Meaning, he’s in San Diego Comic-Con to promote one massive superhero property -- Kick-Ass 2, which he co-wrote and directed – but has to answer questions from lunkheads like me about another superhero property he recently attached his name to.
That would be X-Force, the recently announced adaptation of the Marvel mutant comic book title that looks to be an extension of the growing X-Men franchise at 20th Century Fox. Wadlow has been hired to write a script for an X-Force movie, and he’s hoping to direct the project once he has finished the screenplay.
“I’m pretty deep into it,” Wadlow told me during an exclusive interview. “I have the whole story completely worked out. I’m about 20 pages into my draft. If I wasn’t promoting Kick-Ass, I would probably have a draft [already], but Kick-Ass is going to slow me down just a little.”
Because X-Force is one of those Marvel teams that existed in several different versions, with characters such as Wolverine, Storm and Cyclops dropping in an out as they interacted with lesser-known characters such as Sunspot and Warpath, I wanted to know what version of the team Wadlow wanted to pursue. Specifically, I asked him about the importance of team leader Cable to his draft. But he held back key details, but said,
"Here’s the thing, I love the current run of Uncanny X-Force. I love the classic run. Part of my take was addressing this idea that X-Force can be many different things, and that’s what got the studio excited. I think the fans will be excited, too.”
The big question now becomes “When?” When would Wadlow have time to get his X-Force movie in gear since he plans to direct a speedboat-action thriller Go Fast first? At the very least, he’ll need to run in his draft, then turn his attentions to Go Fast, allowing Fox to polish the script and begin casting. So we’re very early on in the process. It’s possible that Wadlow will be part of some big X-Force reveal during Fox’s panel this afternoon in Hall H. If he is, we’ll be there to cover it. But that’s the latest on the X-Force adaptation, straight from the potential director’s mouth.
