The release of DEADPOOL 2 is quickly approaching, but there are still plenty of other films in the X-MEN franchise coming up the pipeline, including X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX, THE NEW MUTANTS, X-FORCE, and the chronically delayed GAMBIT. Franchise producer Simon Kinberg, who will make his directorial debut on the upcoming DARK PHOENIX, spoke with Entertainment Weekly and provided a quick update on the status of several of those X-MEN projects.
As we know, the release of X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX was pushed back by several months as the film is set to undergo reshoots. Much of the cast has increasingly busy schedules, and it wasn't going to be easy to get them all together once again, so instead of rushing through some last minute reshoots, Fox elected to push the film back. That additional photography is due to get underway this summer, and Simon Kinberg said, "It’s normal for all these big movies now. We’ll go back when we can get all those actors together, and then it will give me enough time to have it ready and looking perfect."
The upcoming DEADPOOL 2 isn't just a sequel to the original, it also serves to set up a further spin-off in the X-MEN franchise – X-FORCE. Set to be written and directed by Drew Goddard (THE CABIN IN THE WOODS), Kinberg says that Ryan Reynolds and himself have sat down with Goddard to discuss the project. "Drew, Ryan, and I sat down and talked quite a bit about what X-Force would be, but we haven’t on settled who those characters are yet. But certainly we’d want Cable and Domino to be part of it." It's also possible that we may not see Deadpool at the center of his own solo-film again, as Ryan Reynolds has recently expressed doubt that DEADPOOL 3 will be a thing.
I don’t know that there would be a Deadpool 3. I really don’t. I feel like the character, in order for him to function properly within his own universe, you need to take everything away from him. I don’t think that you can keep doing that. I do see him as being a part of X-Force, obviously. I would love to see him in a team-up sort of thing, like a mano a mano or a great female character from the X-Men universe. 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.
Finally, we come to GAMBIT, the little X-MEN spin-off which just can't hold on to a director. Channing Tatum has been attached to play Gambit for nearly a decade at this point, but there has been a revolving door of directors, including Rupert Wyatt (RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES), Doug Liman (EDGE OF TOMORROW), and Gore Verbinski (A CURE FOR WELLNESS). However, Simon Kinberg says that "We have a really great script for that, and we’ve met with a bunch of directors in the last couple of weeks," suggesting that we might be hearing something about who will be helming GAMBIT before too long. The…fourth time's the charm?
DEADPOOL 2 will hit theaters on May 18th, with X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX following on February 14, 2019 and THE NEW MUTANTS finally bowing on August 2, 2019.