David Leitch Levels On Deadpool 2 And Its Ties To The X-Men Universe

David Leitch is a filmmaker in demand.

After molding John Wick into a modern action classic – a feat accomplished alongside co-director Chad Stahelski – Leitch immersed himself in the world of blockbuster violence for Atomic Blonde and the soon-to-be-released Deadpool 2. And things are just getting started.

As we learned just yesterday, David Leitch has been tasked with helming Ubisoft’s big-screen adaptation of The Division, the post-pandemic shooter set in a ravaged Big Apple, while there’s also that Hobbs and Shaw spinoff movie that is poised to steer Fast and Furious into uncharted territory – much to the dismay of Vin Diesel and Tyrese Gibson, if you believe everything you read online.

However, closer to home, the prolific filmmaker is firmly focused on Deadpool 2, the R-rated sequel that looks to be every bit as hilarious and gut-wrenchingly violent as the first film. Not that we would have it any other way. But while speaking to Fandango about the Merc’s second coming, David Leitch outlined the ways in which his follow-up can be traced back to the X-Men universe and all of its many mutants.

Here’s what he had to share on the matter:

I think because we needed to expand the world, in terms of where we were going to be, obviously on the day and date, but also because Deadpool’s got to go somewhere. So yeah, he’s part of the X-Men lore. We did find some natural tie-ins, and I think it’s really going to be fun.

On a more general note, the filmmaker then went on to discuss Disney’s impending acquisition of 20th Century Fox which will, through time, allow the likes of Deadpool and the Fantastic Four to be woven into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hell, there’s even been suggestions that Simon Kinberg’s recently-delayed Dark Phoenix will be the final X-movie to release under Fox. The jury’s still out on that one, mind you, but David Leitch still thinks the Merc With a Mouth will have fun riffing with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

I think it’ll be exciting for fans. What I like about Deadpool is I think that the more you can put Deadpool in a box, the more he wants to push outside of it. Pairing him with people that you think would confine him, it’s a challenge to be irreverent, and it’s a challenge to keep the same sort of subversive nature. I think there’s something interesting about that. I don’t know.

Who would he pair with? Captain America, that’d be pretty funny. I don’t know. There are definitely some people. I mean, I’m a fan of that sort of whole Marvel universe. I think you could just throw a dart at a board and put Deadpool next to them, and it would be funny.

And though it’ll take some time before they inhabit the same universe, the Avengers and Deadpool will be back on our screens very soon indeed thanks to the back-to-back release of Infinity War (April 27th) and the David Leitch-directed Deadpool 2. Exciting times, indeed.