The Deadpool movies were one of the only things going well for 20th Century Fox’s X-Men franchise – the fans were satisfied with how the characters were being portrayed, they did consistently well at the box office, and a wider universe had been set up. An X-Force movie and a third Deadpool movie are in development.
However, a spanner has been thrown in the works in the form of Fox’s merger with Disney, which gave the rights to the X-Men back to Marvel. Now, Deadpool could be joining the MCU, but it’s up in the air. So, here is Everything We Know (So Far) About Deadpool 3.
Deadpool 3 will go in “a completely different direction”
Speaking about the development of the threequel, Ryan Reynolds said that Deadpool 3 will go in “a completely different direction” than the previous two movies. The actor explained the reason for this as being to avoid the mistakes made by other superhero franchises: “Often, they reboot or change a character maybe like four movies too late.”
Reynolds elaborated, “I certainly think that this universe needs to represent and reflect the world in very real ways. The great thing about Deadpool is that we’re allowed to do things that other superhero movies don’t necessarily do. It’s something that I’d love to see more of.”
X-Force will probably be released first
After Deadpool 2 was released, development began on Deadpool 3, but it also began on an X-Force team-up movie, which is likely to come before the threequel. This has been compared to how The Avengers was released between Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3.
Rhett Reese, one of the writers behind the Deadpool movies, explained the difference between the two projects: “Deadpool 3 will be different from X-Force. So, I think we’ll be able to take two paths. One is where we’re launching something bigger, but then another where we’re contracting and staying personal and small. So, I think best of all worlds, really.”
David Leitch might return to direct
When John Wick co-director David Leitch was hired to helm Deadpool 2, it was announced that Fox would be seeking a separate filmmaker to take on Deadpool 3, perhaps to give each one a distinctive directorial style, as the first one was helmed by Tim Miller.
But Fox isn’t calling the shots anymore, and Leitch has said he’d be open to returning to the franchise: “I’m not necessarily one and done. I would love to work with Ryan [Reynolds] and Rhett [Reese, co-writer] and Paul [Wernick, co-writer] and Simon [Kinberg, producer] again. We just had a really good time and I love this world, and I love this universe, and I love the character that he’s made so endearing to the fans, and so I would be grateful to work on something again.”
Disney will release it
When Disney acquired the rights to the X-Men characters from Fox, it was reported that they would be rebooting every single character for their introduction into the MCU – Deadpool is the only one they’re happy to leave as he is, un-rebooted.
Disney chairman Alan Horn confirmed this year at CinemaCon, “You’ll be seeing more of Deadpool in the years to come.” Ryan Reynolds celebrated by tweeting a photo of Deadpool sitting on a school bus marked “Disney” wearing a pair of Mickey Mouse ears. Deadpool 3 might even take advantage of this and have the Merc with a Mouth visit Disneyland.
It might be rated PG-13
It’s been reported that the top brass at Disney and Marvel have been watching Once Upon a Deadpool pretty carefully to see if there’s a way to integrate Deadpool into the MCU. Once Upon a Deadpool is the PG-13 rated version of Deadpool 2 that starred a kidnapped adult Fred Savage in a Princess Bride-style framing narrative.
It could work if Deadpool finds himself unable to say swear words or see blood when he stabs people and gets really meta about the fact that he’s in a movie with a PG-13 rating. Fans shouldn’t write off this possibility just yet.
It might also be rated R
Deadpool will definitely have to be watered down to a PG-13 rating for larger MCU team-ups, like if he partnered with Spider-Man, but it’s unclear if Disney will insist on a PG-13 rating for Deadpool 3, because surprisingly, they’re open to making an R-rated threequel.
Marvel Studios head/MCU producer Kevin Feige has said, “When we were purchased, Bob [Iger, Disney CEO] said to us, ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.’ There’s no question that Deadpool is working, so why would we change it?” So, in not so many words, he’s suggesting that Disney will continue the character’s glorious R-rated streak.
Cable and Domino will be back
Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz are expected to return to their roles as Cable and Domino, respectively, in Deadpool 3. Brolin’s contract signed him on to play the time-traveling badass Nathan Summers in four movies, while Beetz’s contract was for three movies.
Beetz herself has spoken out about the state of the Deadpool franchise after the Fox/Disney merger, saying that the Mouse House should maintain the R rating of the other two movies. She said that Disney movies have a “different audience base” than Fox movies, and that if Disney carries on with Fox’s franchise, then they should “continue to honor Fox’s audience base.”
T.J. Miller won’t be back
T.J. Miller played Wade Wilson’s bartender buddy Weasel in the first two Deadpool movies, but Ryan Reynolds has confirmed that Miller won’t be back for Deadpool 3. The comedian has been fraught with controversy in the last couple of years.
He was accused of assaulting an Uber driver in 2016, he faced a number of #MeToo sexual assault allegations in 2017, he called in a fake bomb threat on an Amtrak train in 2018, and a few of his co-workers have accused him of inappropriate behavior. So, it’s not really surprising that he hasn’t been asked back for the third movie.
Zazie Beetz wants to explore Domino’s backstory
Zazie Beetz has said that she’d like to explore her character Domino’s “interesting and complex” origin story from the comics, which Deadpool 2 didn’t delve too deep into. She’s also eager for Deadpool 3 to dig into “how her relationship with Cable develops, because in the comics, they have a relationship and I think that could be cool to see what that is.”
While these plotlines might be saved for the X-Force team-up movie, where there will be more freedom to explore the supporting characters in a crossover format, but Deadpool 3 might expand on it after that movie sets it up.
Deadpool 3 will be the weirdest one yet
Ryan Reynolds has confirmed that work is underway on the script and pre-production for Deadpool 3. His plan with the new movie is to get a budget that’s as low as possible and use it to go weirder than ever before with the Merc with a Mouth and his stories.
He explained, “I just think, if you’re going to do another Deadpool solo film, you’ve got to really, like, get that budget down to nothing and just swing for the fences, and break all kinds of weird barriers, and do stuff that no one else can do.” That certainly sounds tantalizing.
