Earlier this morning, we woke up to the surprising news that director Tim Miller would no longer helm Deadpool 2 for Fox. Deadline reported that it came down to creative differences, as is usually the case, and that the split was amicable, with the director already moving on to take point on the studio’s upcoming cyber-thriller, Influx.
Now, The Wrap is providing a few more details on what happened, and according to them, it came down to the casting of Cable. That’s not all, though, as the differences actually run much further than that. Apparently, Reynolds and Miller haven’t been on good terms for a while now and rarely speak anymore. You see, Reynolds re-negotiated his deal for the sequel, asking for a lot more money in addition to casting approval and a significant amount of creative control.
This didn’t sit well with Miller, who wanted “more of a stylized sequel” that explored the “bigger facets and more unusual realms of Deadpool’s place in the X-Men universe,” as Screen Rant puts it. Reynolds, meanwhile, was more interested in the “raunchy comedy style” of the first film, hoping to place more focus on the “self-referential satirical sensibilities.” Then, came the casting of Cable.
Miller was a fan of having Kyle Chandler take the role, but Reynolds wouldn’t agree to it and given that he’s the star, Fox ultimately took his side. This, combined with everything else, forced Miller to depart. As we said above though, the split was on good terms and both parties are still interested in working together on the aforementioned Influx.
Presumably, Chandler is no longer in contention for the part of Cable, which means that the role is still without an actor to fill it. Not to mention that Deadpool 2 is now without a director as well. Who will Fox rope in to replace Miller? That’s anyone’s guess, but we imagine it’ll be someone who will act as a puppet for Reynolds since the actor clearly wants to have most of the creative control here.
How that’ll work out for the film in the end remains to be seen, but we can only hope that Miller’s departure doesn’t spell trouble for Deadpool 2.
