February is basically equivalent to the graveyard shift of movie releases where movies released in this time typically flop or are totally forgotten about come summer blockbuster season. So, it came as a little bit of a shock when Deadpool became a huge hit seemingly overnight. Once it managed to bring in well over $100 million in just its first weekend and critics praised it as a “party time for action junkies,” a sequel being greenlit was a no brainer. Just two months after its release, Fox confirmed the sequel’s development with director Tim Miller, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and star Ryan Reynolds all returning. However, just last week in a rather surprising turn of events, Miller exited the film citing “creative differences” (which our Danny Bowes wrote all about here) over what he wanted the film to be.
Now, Fox’s scramble to secure a new director seems to be narrowed down to one frontrunner: David Leitch. Leitch has a huge background in stunt work and actually worked as an action coordinator for 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine which introduced Reynolds as Wade Wilson (Deadpool’s alias). Leitch also co-directed the surprisingly enjoyable John Wick in 2014. Hollywood Reporter is also reporting that Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) and Magnus Martens (Marvel’s Luke Cage) are in consideration as well. There was an online petition to bring Quentin Tarantino on board that garnered over 15,000 supporters, but there is no news that the execs at Fox ever caught wind of it. As of this article’s time of publication, there are conflicting reports from Variety and Deadline that disagree as to whether Leitch has already been hired or is still simply being considered.
Leitch helming the Deadpool sequel would be great, especially considering his background in stunt work. It is that background that made his and fellow stunt coordinator/second unit director Chad Stahelski’s directorial debut John Wick so entertaining. These are two people that understand how movement does look and should look on camera in action settings and it showed with the simple plot, but action-heavy adventure John Wick turned out to be. It is also perfect timing considering Leitch’s schedule recently cleared up. Originally, he was all set to come back and co-direct the John Wick sequel, but left that project to focus more on his solo directorial effort The Coldest City, a spy thriller starring Charlize Theron.
While the sequel has no official set release date, Fox is moving at speed ahead with it and beginning their search for Domino, who plays an important role in the Deadpool comics. Some of the talented actresses in consideration for the part include Lizzy Caplan, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Sienna Miller, Ruby Rose, and more (my personal favorite of this list is Mary Elizabeth Winstead, so fingers crossed on that front). With Fox super gung-ho on the Deadpool sequel, we can be sure of a director announcement soon and hope that Leitch’s name is attached to it.
Related Topics: Comics, Deadpool, Filmmaking, Hollywood
