One of 20th Century Fox's most troubled Marvel developments may be getting new life under MCU boss Kevin Feige. Over the last 18 years, Marvel Studios has managed to get most of its announced movies to the finish line, with only Inhumans, Blade, and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty truly sitting in the bin of abandoned projects. That's not to say everything from the red brand has seen the light of day, as Sony Pictures and 20th Century Fox were often known to leave Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four-related projects behind, from obscure spin-offs to much-anticipated crossovers.
Scooper Daniel Richtman revealed via his Patreon that Marvel Studios is developing an X-Force project, although he didn't specify whether it would take the form of an MCU movie or Disney+ series. 20th Century Fox began developing X-Force as early as 2013, which could have featured Deadpool, Cable, Domino, Warpath, Cannonball, Psylocke, and more.
The flick's first evolution came from Kick Ass 2 director Jeff Wadlow, with Ryan Reynolds and Joe Carnahan later co-writing their own script in 2017. This was around the time of the team's appearance in Deadpool 2, before eventually landing on Daredevil creator Drew Goddard to write and direct X-Force that same year.
While there was a plan to begin filming in October 2018, that never happened as the Disney and Fox merger was nearing completion around the same time. Ultimately, all the studio's in-development Marvel movies, including X-Force, were shelved as Kevin Feige prepared to assume control.
Granted, X-Force was far from the only victim of the Disney-Fox merger, as a Doctor Doom solo outing, a Fantastic Four/X-Men crossover, a Logan sequel starring Dafne Keen's X-23, Channing Tatum's long-in-development Gambit movie, more X-Men flicks, and New Mutants sequels were killed as well.
Is X-Force Secretly Deadpool 4?
Ryan Reynolds was recently said to be developing his own "mutants team-up movie for the next saga," which could conceivably be this X-Force project. The actor's history with the team in Deadpool 2, combined with his past work on a team-up spin-off, suggests the projects may be one and the same.
Recent reports also stated that Deadpool 4 will be another "team-up" movie after Deadpool & Wolverine's massive success. It's safe to say that Reynolds and his Merc with a Mouth would be the marketable face that X-Force may need to finally get off the ground, well over a decade after its initial conception.
It's unclear whether a potential MCU X-Force spin-off would keep the surviving members of Deadpool 2's ensemble or reboot the team. The likes of Josh Brolin's Cable, Zazie Beetz's Domino, and Stefan Kapičić's Colossus may well return or be recast with new actors as Marvel Studios debuts a new, younger X-Men iteration.
Keeping around some of Deadpool 2's X-Force stars may be a wise move, as pairing the 49-year-old Reynolds with a more youthful generation of heroes may be a strange move. Then again, the studio could easily recast characters such as Cable and Domino, especially after neither returned for Deadpool & Wolverine.
While Marvel Studios is developing multiple mutant-centric projects for the next saga, fans shouldn't expect to see X-Force for some time, if it happens at all. The focus right now seems to be on Jake Schreier's X-Men reboot, so projects like X-Force could be saved for later.
