Director Tim Miller Weighs In On Why He Left 'Deadpool 2'

One of the biggest shockers of 2016 in the fanboy community had to be the parting of ways on “Deadpool 2.” The 20th Century FoxX-Men” spinoff was not just a tremendous success — $782 million worldwide — it essentially put the rest of the “X-Men” franchise to shame in one go (with half the budget, no less). Despite seven previous films to the franchise’s name, “Deadpool” went on to quickly wipe out all records and currently stands as the highest-grossing X-film both domestically and internationally. The film is the fifth-highest-grossing movie in the U.S. this year so far and stands as fifth worldwide. These are incredible numbers for a new character that has essentially never been on screen before (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” hardly counts, given how throughly the role has been reworked).

So, the team of director Tim Miller, star Ryan Reynolds and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick should all have been golden and ready to reunite. But it was not to be, and potentially egos got in the way. Reports varied from Tim Miller and Ryan Reynolds clashing on direction — he evidently didn’t want to suddenly make a bigger movie with a bigger budget — to different visions entirely, with Reynolds apparently not wanting to cast Kyle Chandler as Cable despite the filmmaker’s wishes. One thing seemed clear: Reynolds had gained a lot of power on the new film and was perhaps now overshadowing the helmer who knocked it out of the park on the first go.

READ MORE: The 25 Best Breakthrough Directors Of 2016

Up until now, Miller has remained silent on his exit from the sequel, but in a recent CG Garage episode (via Collider; watch the full video below), the director finally weighed in on his side of the story. And he’s at least calling bullshit on some of the rumors.

“I wanted to do the same thing [as the first movie]. Kyle Chandler was not going to be Cable,” he insisted about that persistent casting rumor. “All this stuff that I read kind of kills me.”

Made for a relatively conservative $57 million, “Deadpool” was an extremely inexpensive movie by superhero film standards. Rumors have suggested that producer Simon Kinberg and the rest of the creative team wanted to amplify the scale of the smaller-scoped original.

“I just want to say one thing to the geek audience out there…I didn’t want to make some stylized movie that was 3 times the budget,” he explained. “If you read the internet — who cares, really, but for those of you who do — I wanted to make the same kind of movie that we made before because I think that’s the right movie to make for the character. So don’t believe what you read on the internet.”

READ MORE: Review: ‘Deadpool’ Starring Ryan Reynolds, T.J. Miller, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, And Gina Carano

Some rumors also discussed the difficulties of making the movie, which Miller refuted. “Even when some people go, ‘The movie was really hard to make.’ The movie was a joy to make. I think you see it on screen. We all had such a good time. We had a few arguments in post, but nothing more than usual. The crew was so great, everybody was going to come back and we were going to have such a good time and the idea that it was a difficult movie…it was a joy, and it was the best experience of my life.”

Either way, Miller seems to have moved on. “I wish them nothing but good — I hope it’s great. I hope it’s a great movie. Because I love the character and I think it’s great, and I love all the actors and I want to see them successful again.”

As usual, there are two sides to every story, and Miller, if ever so diplomatically, has said his piece. Whether the unfettered version of the story ever gets out or not, it remains to be seen, but regardless, “Deadpool” has moved on, too. The sequel, once due January 12, 2018, has no firm release date at the moment. But given the fact, that Fox recently opened up a March 2, 2018, release for an “Untitled Fox / Marvel Film,” it’s a good bet that slot is being saved for “Deadpool 2.”