Writer/director Jeff Wadlow has divulged details surrounding his cancelled X-Force trilogy under 20th Century Fox. Wadlow began work on an X-Force film in 2013, after the release of Kick-Ass 2. However, the project was slow to get off the ground and the success of Deadpool in 2016 changed Fox’s plans.

Looking at the trajectory/plot holes in Fox’s X-Men franchise, it’s fair to say that the studio’s long-term plans for their Marvel properties were precarious. The Ryan Reynolds-led Deadpool films’ tonal shift and subsequent success revolutionized what was possible in a comic book film (an R-rating has become fair game). After abandoning Wadlow’s plan, Deadpool 2 introduced X-Force characters like Cable in a comedic fashion. Unfortunately, any X-Force films that might have followed Deadpool 2 won’t be happening due to Disney’s acquisition of Fox.

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While promoting his new film, Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island, Wadlow spoke with ComicBookMovie about his original plans for the X-Force. That trilogy would have begun with a more traditional version of the team (from the comics) and then morphed into something that resembled Rick Remender’s X-Force. The story would’ve focused on the less-privileged mutants, ones that hadn’t gotten to study under the likes of Wolverine and Professor Xavier. Instead, Wadlow’s X-Force would’ve consisted of “public school” mutants with no benefactor looking out for them. Eventually, Cable (a different Cable than the one from Deadpool 2) would’ve presented himself as a darker mentor than what we’ve seen before. Wadlow explained:

I plotted out this three-movie arc that took X-Force from what it was in the 90s with Rob Liefeld with a band of kids fighting for what they believe in. And then by the third film, the group would have grown and changed and lost and picked up some new members, and basically turned into Rick Remender’s version of the X-Force in the early 2000s. That was a much darker hit squad and black ops team who had lost their way over the course of the three films.

Wadlow’s plans never came to fruition, but his love for ’90s comics and gratitude at being able to write the unused script remains. That said, Wadlow’s interview doubled as a shout-out to the president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige; the filmmaker said he would do anything to work on Marvel Studios’ implementation of the X-Men and X-Force. Disney’s acquisition of Fox now puts those characters under the control of Marvel Studios.

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At last year’s San Diego Comic-Con Marvel and Feige revealed that they did have plans to include mutants in their Cinematic Universe. However, given the studios’ already rapidly evolving MCU, made up of feature films and television shows on Disney+, it might be a while before that happens. The only mutant-related project Marvel has kept in place since absorbing 20th Century Fox is Deadpool 3. While there are many conflicting rumors revolving around MCU mutants, Deadpool 3 still presents itself as the most likely bridge between what remains of Fox’s mutants, X-Force, and the MCU.

Source: ComicBookMovie

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Josh Plainse
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Josh Plainse is a writer, movie, and television fanatic based out of Wisconsin. Josh works for Screen Rant covering the latest in entertainment while simultaneously pursuing the never-ending dream of becoming an established novelist, screenwriter, and/or decent human being. Josh would accredit characters such as Goku, Han Solo, Simba, and Maximus Decimus Meridius for instilling within him an affinity for storytelling. It is this incessant obsession which has propelled him to seek opportunities that inform, entertain, and inspire others.

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