Deadpool Creator Suggests Next Movie Might Not Happen, Criticizes Marvel

When Disney announced it was buying the Deadpool series from Fox, the company said it would continue to release R-rated Deadpool films going forward. If that does come to fruition, it might not be anytime soon. Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld said in a recent interview that he's not feeling very optimistic about the future of Deadpool, and he spoke critically of Marvel boss Kevin Feige's direction of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Asked by Inverse if there was a possibility for a Deadpool/X-Force crossover movie, Liefeld said if it does happen, it won't be soon.

"I don't know," he said. "Here's what people don't want to hear, but thank God I'm a realist. I feel like Deadpool, the movies, they've set sail. We got two brilliant movies, and we live in a culture that always looks forward because all they're ever selling us is 'next, next, next, next. Yeah, you like that? Here's next. It's the fever."

"For me, as the fever calms down, people just need to chill out and realize that, dude, Deadpool 1 and 2 were released within two years of each other, 2016 and 2018, and I just can't… I'm not really that crazy about Marvel's plan right now," he added.

For the first time since the MCU began, Liefeld is wondering if Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige is on the right path for the direction of the franchise.

"It's the first time I've gone, 'Hey Feige, did you even have a plan?'" he said. "Your plan was Eternals and Shang-Chi? That was your plan. And Black Widow?"

If Marvel were to begin producing a new Deadpool movie right now, it would be four years before it would release, Liefeld said. "Know what their plan for Deadpool is right now? Goose egg. Zero. Zero!" he said.

In 2019, Deadpool 2 director David Leitch said Disney was trying to think of a plan to keep making Deadpool movies, but nothing was decided yet. "There's a lot of mystery still surrounding what they want to do with Deadpool in [Disney’s] Marvel world but I think, from discussions that I've heard, it's all positive," he said. "I think that they're just trying to figure a way in as Deadpool's hard."

Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds teased that Deadpool the character might join the MCU, though nothing is announced. When Disney bought the majority of Fox's entertainment assets, it picked up all the X-Men characters.

As for Disney releasing an R-rated Deadpool movie, Disney boss Bob Iger confirmed that the studio will "continue in that business," following Disney's acquisition of Fox.

"We do believe there is room for the Fox properties to exist without significant Disney influence over the nature of the content, meaning that we see that there is certainly popularity amongst Marvel fans for the R-rated Deadpool films, as a for instance," he said. "We're going to continue in that business, and there might be room for more of that."

The Deadpool series has experimented with a lower age-rating. In December 2018, Deadpool 2 was re-released in theatres with a PG-13 rating with Once Upon a Deadpool. The cut tones down or totally removes a number of violent and adult-themed scenes.