The first time that Deadpool appeared on the big screen, he was one part of a larger ensemble that centered around Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Yes, I know that talking about X-Men: Origins – Wolverine stings. But the idea is that Wade Winston Wilson often plays in the same sandboxes as the X-Men characters, and that trend could continue when the anti-hero makes his way to the big screen in 2016.
During our exclusive interview with Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld, we talked about the character’s origins in the comic-book issues of The New Mutants and X-Force. We asked if we can expect New Mutants or X-Men characters to appear in the Deadpool movie. And while Liefeld wasn’t able to confirm anyone specifically, he did tell us:
Every new X-film has always featured new mutants in it. I believe Deadpool will reflect that same practice."
Diplomatic. I want to discuss Rob Liefeld’s comments, but first, an obligatory spoiler alert to protect you from what you might not want to know.
Still here? OK, a few years back, the Deadpool screenplay penned by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (co-writers on Zombieland) leaked online, giving fans an idea of what to expect from their sarcastic mercenary character. The end result was a meta action comedy that poked fun of Deadpool, and the way that the character was mishandled by the executives at 20th Century Fox. Liefeld loves that screenplay, but it’s unclear at the moment if it’s that script that the studio is moving forward with for the February 2016 release date. "This stuff is always in flux," Liefeld admits to us in our interview.
But, if the script is used (without major changes), there will be a major role for Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin… also known as Colossus.
In the screenplay that made the rounds, Colossus is the antithesis of Deadpool – a rigid, rule-following boy scout of a hero who often plays straight man to Deadpool’s insanity. Now, Colossus has had a few minutes of screen time in the various X-Men movies, most notably showing up in Bryan Singer’s summer smash hit X-Men: Days of Future Past. Does this mean that actor Daniel Cudmore could (or would) play him in the Deadpool movie – if he’s even still part of the script?
Rob Liefeld couldn’t elaborate. Which is completely understandable. He has been involved in several key decisions along the way to production on Deadpool, and he wants fans to be equally excited yet surprised. But he admits on Twitter that he views Deadpool as an X-Men spinoff movie.
And given the fact that movies like James Mangold’s The Wolverine and Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past have re-established Fox as a safe haven for mighty mutant movies, don’t you think Deadpool will only continue to build on that success?
