While the Disney-Fox deal sorts itself out, Fox has begun building out its X-verse in interesting ways. Following the success of the R-rated Logan and Deadpool, Fox is pushing more fresh, adult takes on the superhero genre, including The New Mutants and the untitled Kitty Pryde movie. But perhaps most exciting for comic fans is the introduction of the X-Force. The X-Force will first show up in Deadpool 2, and it should be clear right away, these characters aren't the X-Men. This mutant team is different the X-Men teams audiences are used to in some notable ways, as director David Leitch explained:
I think that X-Force, not unlike Deadpool, have their own sort of a code. There's a real defining line between what's right and wrong, and how to get things done, and sometimes things are gray and you have to fight dirty. I think that the X-Force is leaned into a little bit more of the amoral code, like Deadpool.
Basically, this ain't your daddy's X-Men. The X-Force is more like Deadpool in that they play in the gray area and dabble in murky morality to get the job done. As David Leitch told Fandango, sometimes you have to fight dirty, and that's where X-Force comes in. The X-Men have always strived to lead by example, be role models to mutants everywhere and serve as a sympathetic presence to homo sapiens. The X-Men pursue equality and defend both sides of the evolutionary spectrum. X-Force is not that. They have none of the public relations concerns that the X-Men do. The X-Force is simply about achieving the mission first and worrying about optics never.
Whereas the X-Men are a shield, X-Force is a sword. The team is a militant, black ops type group, taking a more proactive approach to eliminate threats and employing more lethal and ethically questionable tactics than their X-Men counterparts. Basically, X-Force fights to win and doesn't worry about looking kid-friendly while doing so. It should come as no surprise that Wolverine has also been an X-Force member in the comics, even leading the group at times. Naturally, Deadpool fits better into this group, and we can expect to see a healthy amount of violence from the team when they debut onscreen. It is easy to see why fans have been waiting to see this group appear in the X-Men cinematic universe. Their m.o. just comes off as way more badass than a bunch of teachers moonlighting as superheroes.
The X-Force that will show up in Deadpool 2 will be a little different than the comics, but as you can tell from the trailers and David Leitch's comments, they will retain their signature style. In the comics, Cable founded X-Force, which is very different than Deadpool 2, where it looks like Cable will be the main antagonist. X-Force also boasted the likes of Domino, Cannonball, Warpath, Feral, Shatterstar and Boom-Boom among its ranks in the beginning. Obviously the X-Force team in Deadpool 2 will be much different, but there are some carryovers. The new trailer finally gave us a good look at Shatterstar as well as some average guy named Peter. It looks like a fun group, so hopefully it delivers and we can get a proper X-Force movie in the near future.
The X-Force makes its cinematic debut in Deadpool 2, meta-referencing its way into theaters on May 18th. Check out our guide to see all of the upcoming X-Men movies.
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