As we enter the weekend, and “Deadpool 2” dominates the box office (and perhaps breaks those R-rated film records), it’s time to look towards the future of the franchise. As we’ve covered recently, Ryan Reynolds has talked about the future of his beloved superhero, saying that maybe there’s nowhere to go in a “Deadpool 3,” with “X-Force” on the horizon.
READ MORE: Ryan Reynolds Isn’t Sure There Will Be A ‘Deadpool 3’
Well, according to interviews with the writers and director of “Deadpool 2,” Reynolds might be speaking for himself. Co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are making the rounds, talking about ‘DP2,’ and the future. Reese, in particular, has an idea of where they can take “Deadpool 3,” and unlike Reynolds, he doesn’t think you need to strip everything away (via CinemaBlend):
“I think [Ryan] makes a really good point, and yet I think the challenge will be maybe to do a ‘Deadpool’ movie where we don’t strip away everything from the character. Like maybe we go the other way, and he’s getting big for his britches. Who knows? But I guess the biggest point is that we’ve been doing it straight for a number of years now, and we know that ‘X-Force’ is coming next. So we know we’ve got a little breathing room. So I think the general feeling is let’s let Ryan get out of the suit, us put the keyboards down for just a little while, take a little breather, and then come back to it. So that’s the hope.”
In a separate interview (via The Wrap), director David Leitch was asked the same thing, and if he’d be willing to come back to the franchise that he inherited when previous director Tim Miller walked away. “The thing that’s cool about ‘Deadpool’ is, it can go anywhere. I would hope they make the unconventional choice and surprise the audience and do something out of the norm with ‘Deadpool.’ Like the Celine Dion video but a 90-minute version. No, just kidding. Just something we’re not expecting,” said the filmmaker.
READ MORE: Celine Dion Headlines The ‘Deadpool 2’ Soundtrack And We Have The Video To Prove It
As we just mentioned, Leitch was given the sequel when Miller left due to creative differences. Even though the “Deadpool 2” job seems like a no-brainer, the director didn’t immediately jump at the opportunity, due to his fear of sequelitis.
He said, “I never really thought I would want to do a sequel because I like to create worlds. I like to have my own voice. The thing about this ‘Deadpool’ world, it’s so fast and creative, you can go anywhere, and with this, I believed I could have my imprint as a filmmaker and include the DNA of the film at the same time.”
The next pseudo-sequel to “Deadpool 2” is the upcoming team-up flick “X-Force.” Not much is known about the film, other than the fact that Deadpool and Cable (Josh Brolin) are almost guaranteed to show up. But the question remains about how the more mainstream film will be able to bridge the gap between “Deadpool’s” R-rating and the normally more family-friendly “X-Men” universe.
In an interview (via CBR), Reese, who isn’t attached to the film, gave his own take on the team film. “I think the fun part of X-Force is they’re much more morally flexible than the X-Men,” Reese said. “They can get their hands dirty a little bit. There’s more grey area. It’ll be raunchier, it’ll be rated R, I’m sure. We’ll get to see an ensemble movie that’s pushed, hopefully, as far as the ‘Deadpool’ individual movie was pushed.”
And finally, much of the talk surrounding “Deadpool 2” is less about the titular Merc with a Mouth and more about the standout newcomer Peter. As seen in the trailers, Peter is the seemingly normal middle-aged member of the newly created team. He finds himself as part of X-Force due to his wife’s suggestion. But in his everyday life, he just does normal stuff like wear dad clothes and tend to his bees.
Reese and Wernick have some ideas on where to take Peter next, and what a solo “Peter” film might look like. “Yeah. It could get a little boring. I mean, he’s out behind the house doing his beekeeping and working on payroll during the day and stuff like that,” said Reese (via Screen Rant). “…Buying some khakis. Going to J. Crew to buy some dockers. But yeah, we’d love to see more of Peter.”
Wernick added, ”And probably will.”
“Deadpool 2” is in theaters now.