There's no denying that Deadpool is one Marvel's more popular characters, particularly after the runaway success of a duo of Ryan Reynolds-fronted films featuring the him as a lead. The two Deadpool movies were strictly rated-R affairs and were solely produced by 20th Century Fox, before the studio was acquired by The Walt Disney Corporation.
Recently, the co-creator of Deadpool, Rob Liefeld, set the internet aflame with his comments on Marvel Studios' schedule as well as Deadpool on film. These comments, in which he claimed that plans for a third Marvel Studios-produced Deadpool film were a "goose egg" stirred up a fair deal of controversy among fans.
NEWS
Today, Liefeld spoke to io9 in attempt to clarify his earlier comments. In this interview, he offered the following statement:
“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. 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.’”
He continued on to explain his fears on the window of relevancy closing on the character before his next cinematic outing:
“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.’ And I also have three teenagers and I see how fast their interests come and go and how everything is vying for their attention at all times.”
Liefeld expressed his belief that a third Deadpool movie will not be producted by Marvel Studios within the next five years, saying:
“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... And 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.”
Regardless, Liefeld is less concerned about the monetization aspect of the character:
“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.”
Finally, he expressed his confidence in Ryan Reynolds:
“My opinion is 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.”
WHAT THIS MEANS
It would seem that if Rob Liefeld was attempting to calm things down in his corner, that these further comments may only end up fanning the flames.
Marvel Studios already has countless projects in the works, ranging from sequels to Disney+ series to entirely new properties and characters. Liefeld seems firm in his belief that Kevin Feige his team have no current plans for the character. At this moment in time, we have no clear picture of how accurate that belief is. However, it is the very definition of 'no-brainer' to not further capitalize on a white-hot film property like Deadpool.
Additionally, it is unlikely that Reynolds would be given complete control over the next Deadpool film, despite Liefeld's wishes to the contrary. While many Marvel Studios writers and directors have previously discussed the large amount of creative freedom they have in crafting their films, most still acknowledge that it's someone else's sandbox they're playing in.
