Even though 20th Century Fox has awardedThe Fantastic Four 2with a June 2017 release date, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to happen. Theearly reviewsare in, and this weekend’sFantastic Fourreboot isn’t faring well with credits. If audiences feel the same come Monday, Fox’s ownMarvel Cinematic Universemay need some rejiggering as they contemplate aX-Men/Fantastic Four Crossover Movie. And even though the newDeadpool trailerhas been well received by fans, don’t expect to hear about a sequel until closer to the release date. Even though it may be a few months before Fox confirmsDeadpool 2, that hasn’t stopped director Tim Miller from making some early plans. And he even knows which villain he may use.
Following last night’s debut of the first red band trailer forDeadpoolonConan, director Tim Miller met up with Empire to discuss the ins and outs of this epic footage. They go through the teaser quite thoroughly, revealing interesting tidbits, such as the fact that original ColossusDaniel Cudmorewas wanted to return for his character, though he turned down the part. Tim Miller also reveals that other X-Men mutants were considered for the movie before they decided onColossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead. He then goes onto tease thatX-Force’s leader Cable will probably end up inDeadpool 2.
“We had Garrison Kane in there for a while, but in the final round of budget cuts we had to take him out, because he was a pretty expensive dude. He’s got these bionic arms that change shape; he would have been a visual effect for a large part of the movie. And as it turned out, a visual effect too far. I went through the list of Marvel characters and picked a few others I thought could be visually spectacular and fun. And at the end of that list was Negasonic. Her name was cool, and we kind of wanted a straight-man to play against Colossus. We thought about Cannonball, but he would’ve been a stupid hick character, whereas the guys wrote Negasonic as this deadpan goth teen, which was a great angle. She turned out really well. There aren’t really many definitive Deadpool villains, apart from Cable. If we don’t put Cable in Deadpool 2 I think we’ll be run out of town on a rail.”
In a previous interview,Ryan Reynoldsstated that he wants Deadpool to join a Cable-LedX-Forcemovie. It’s an idea he prefers much more than a straight X-Men movie crossover. Though, it sounds likeCablemight appear inDeadpool 2first. As well, the inclusion of X-Men characters Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead make this a quasi-X-Men crossover on its own. One that director Tim Miller couldn’t quite believe he was getting away with. About Colossus' appearance in the movie, he explained the following.
“We were never going to be able to keep Colossus as a secret. He was in the script that leaked and all that. I wasn’t actually sure, until we were standing there shooting it, that at some point Fox was going to say, ‘Hold on a second; we can’t put Colossus from our treasured X-Men franchise in this movie to be made fun of!’ But they did, and not only that, but also they let me change the look of him. As a fanboy I’ve always been like, ‘That dude with the shiny skin is not fucking Colossus.’ He should be this monstrous guy, and they actually let me make him seven-and-a-half feet tall. I did actually call Daniel Cudmore to ask him if he wanted to do this, even though he’d be entirely CG the whole time. He was very nice about it. He was like, ‘I appreciate your offering, but nah.'”
In talking about the trailer, Tim Miller went into why Deadpool is seen in that iconic shot, where he is sitting on the bridge, and why this one scene is so important to the movie and the character of Wade Wilson. Some might even think the entire movie takes place on a bridge, but that’s not the case. The main hero/villain conflict does have a lot to do with that bridge, though. And it’s a direct nod to the leaked footage that helped get the movie made.
“That’s a direct lift from our little, leaked trailer. He’s sitting on the bridge waiting for Ajax. It’s Christmas Day, and Wade’s been waiting for Ajax to get out of prison for five years, because he thinks Ajax can fix his face. So this is the day Ajax gets out of the Supermax, and Wade’s just sitting there on the bridge, waiting for him to get out and drive by, so he can beat the shit out of him.”
Tim Miller didn’t mind improvisation on set, especially with masters of the formRyan ReynoldsandT.J. Millergetting an opportunity to riff off each other. Though, the director admits thatT.J. Millermay have taken things a step too far. A lot of his jokes had to be cut, because they went over the line. Especially when it came to describing Wade Wilson’s post-surgery face.
“There were actually way meaner versions of the line, ‘You look like Freddy Krueger face-fucked a topographical map of Utah’. T.J. (Miller) came up with some horrific riffs on that. And they cracked us up, but they were kind of too much. We have a David Beckham joke that’s pretty funny, but I feel like David Beckham can take it. He’s a rich and beautiful and famous sports star. Oh yeah, you’re right, there’s that line about Posh Spice at the start of the trailer too! I don’t know why Ryan has it in for the Beckhams. He makes fun of himself at the same time though!”
So, you’ve seen the trailer. You’ve heard the director’s take on the whole thing. What do you think? Are we looking at the next big superhero franchise? Are you excited at the prospects ofDeadpool 2? And do you think Cable should be the main villain? Sound off below, and check out the cool Deadpool poster that arrived with last night’s trailers.
