Soooo... sequel happening? Should we go, or...?
The big news floating around and being dissected from all angles today concerns the Marvel Cinematic Universe that isn’t actually a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That is to say, prognoses are flying fast and loose about all the properties still overseen by Fox such as Wolverine, the X mutants, and Deadpool. The bulk of the info is coming from Drew McWeeney’s interview with producer Lauren Schuler Donner, though some other outlets like Total Film had words as well. Basically it boils down to this:
The Wolverine: Definitely won’t be shooting until summer of next year, and even that will be dependent on Hugh Jackman’s schedule with Les Miserables. James Mangold is still directing from a newly written script, with continued emphasis on how different this well be from the first film.
X-Men: It seems a sequel to First Class is the most likely continuation of the current series, but any suggestion of when and if it will actually happen is vague to the point of useless. Donner isn’t shy about confirming Matthew Vaughn’s involvement in whatever hypothetical sequel could happen, specifically citing his inclusion of the James Bond energy as a reason he was so great for the franchise.
Deadpool: Apparently the producer is still involved in putting together another pitch for the studio, but they still see Ryan Reynolds playing the role. Obviously the plan is still to ignore the Wolverine interpretation of the character and strike out on a more violent, funny path. Absolutely nothing in the way of a start time or prognosis of how likely it is that the project will take off.
That’s a whole lot of vagueness, no?
Looking more and more like a Marvel character isn’t going to be able to catch a break at Fox. Who knows what Hugh Jackman could get involved with between now and the end of Les Mis or if the Fox execs will ever see the rosy sides of greenlighting a sequel to a relatively underperforming ensemble blockbuster, or giving the go ahead to another obscure superhero film starring Ryan Reynolds.
What future do you see for these projects? I feel like most of them will get off the ground in the next year or two, though I can’t imagine Deadpool will have an intense budget. I don’t see another answer for the X-Franchise at Fox then to bank on the goodwill from First Class and follow that up, rather than yet another reboot. Feel free to dump your thoughts in the comments…