Writer and director Drew Goddard has previously said he's a one-film-at-a-time kind of filmmaker, and with his incredibly captivating crime thriller, Bad Times at the El Royale, now out in theaters, excitement for his next project is running high. His name has been attached to Deadpool spinoff X-Force for some time, and making his mark on a superhero team-up lead by the Merc with a Mouth is an intriguing undertaking for Goddard. It looks like he can't wait to delve into it, with these words:
The thing that was exciting about X-Force, in particular, was the fringe element of what X-Force was to the X-Men. I still feel like there is real opportunity to explore that. What Deadpool is to the superhero movie, X-Force can be to the team superhero movie.
In the sometimes-tiresome superhero genre, Deadpool was a unique gem that dazzled viewers in a refreshing way, mixing raunchy comedy with vigilantism and heartfelt romance. It seemed like a one-of-a-kind, one-in-a-lifetime kind of release until Logan, and then Deadpool 2 recreated the same sort of magic. Next, Drew Goddard wants to do the same with an ensemble superhero film, which so far seems like more of an extension of Deadpool 2 as Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz are all said to reprise their roles as Deadpool, Cable and Domino, respectively.
However, while early reports point to production starting this month, right now, plans have been delayed due to the Fox/Disney merger, and Goddard isn't sure when it will get moving again. In his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the writer/director showed his genuine excitement to work with the main cast and work with a property that has a special freedom to stray away from the typical genre tropes and deliver varying tones laced throughout it. Goddard found the surprising heartfelt moments in Deadpool to be the secret weapon of the film.
X-Force would draw from the '90s comic book series of the same title, which Drew Goddard admits he loved and still has quite a few issues stored away in his garage. The series positioned itself as an edgier X-Men, as the team formed by Cable use a more black ops approach to crime fighting. Goddard has, of course, taken on Marvel properties before. He created the first Netflix-Marvel television series, Daredevil, and he also previously wrote a Sinister Six film which never saw the light of day when Sony started teaming up with Marvel after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 underperformed.
With the incomparable Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool at the center and the Bad Times at the El Royale writer/director helming, X-Force looks like it would certainly be something special. With a different eye on X-Force compared to the Deadpool franchise, the spinoff could easily set itself apart from the others movies while still feeling part of the same universe.
Check out Drew Goddard's impressive and enthralling film, Bad Times at the El Royale in theaters now.
