Although Ryan Reynolds has hinted on a number of occasions that he’s been having talks with Marvel over another Deadpool movie, the character’s comic book co-creator Rob Liefeld lashed out against the studio last week, stating that they have “goose egg, zero, zero” in store for the Merc with a Mouth following Disney’s acquisition of Fox last year.
Well, the outspoken Liefeld has now doubled down on his claims, telling io9 that: “Regardless of whatever inside perspective I may have, what I do know is that until a movie is put on a schedule, it’s not taken seriously. What people don’t like is that I have assessed the schedule for the next, give or take, five years and I don’t see Deadpool on it. [So] I don’t see that it can arrive earlier than that… Do I know that there is no movement on a Deadpool 3 right now? I know that. Yes. And does that worry me? No. Not at all.”
“What I did was I answered a question honestly,” he said, referring to his original comments. “And what I learned this week is just lie. Just tell people everything is lollipop and unicorns and rainbows and you’ll be better off in your life because people want to be lied to. Just because some guy goes, ‘Yeah, We’re still moving along’ that’s code for ‘There’s nothing to see here.’”
Liefeld went on to state that he believes the best course of action for Marvel Studios is that: “Ryan [Reynolds] should be steering the ship and just completely handed the reins. Even to the point of plugging characters in…Give him three characters he can integrate and let him integrate them. If people ask what I want to see, that’s where it begins. Just please don’t micromanage the guy. Just give him free rein.”
The comic book creator also addressed criticism that his interest in getting another Deadpool movie up and running as soon as possible is purely financial, adding: “My whole thing is you get access to this franchise, go give it priority. And that’s not me acting pretentious. That’s me going ‘This is a pretty valuable commodity.’… When Deadpool exploded onto Fortnite, was that really good for my kids’ private education? Yes. Yes, it was. I have Deadpool revenue streams that have existed since 1991…I already get paid. If you make this movie [or not], I’m getting a fat check.”
As yet, apart from teasing the eventual introduction of the X-Men and Fantastic Four during last year’s Comic-Con, there’s been no official word on Marvel’s plans for any of the characters acquired from Fox, and we know that – at this point in time – none are set to headline their own movie/TV show until July 2022 at the earliest. Whether that extends to 2025 or not (or excludes any appearances and debuts in other Phase Four projects), we shall just have to wait and see…