The main X-Men series has arguably been running on fumes for a few years now, but while a lot of fans have grown weary of the adventures of Professor Xavier and his peers, many have still maintained an interest in Fox’s comic book universe thanks to the Deadpool films, both of which have come out to commercial and critical success. You can therefore expect some heavy backlash if this latest report that the X-Force movie has been cancelled turns out to be legit.
Leaker Daniel Richtman recently took Twitter with reports that the various spinoff movies planned for Gambit, Doctor Doom, Silver Surfer, Kitty Pryde, and Multiple Man have all been shelved. But whereas none of those cancellations would come across across as particularly surprising, Richtman also warned of some disappointing news for Wade Wilson fans, saying that while the planned X-Force movie isn’t “officially” dead, the Deadpool spinoff film is, at the very least, not going to happen under Fox.
It’s here that Deadpool’s own co-creator Rob Liefeld chimed in to commiserate the death of the project, tweeting:
“Pour one out for ol’ X-Force. Victim of the merger. $800 million grosser easy.”
Seeing how X-Force director Drew Goddard admitted just a few months ago that even he didn’t know what was happening with the film – explaining that matters of the Disney/Fox merger are well above his pay grade – it’s unclear whether Liefeld knows much more than we do about the X-Force situation. But while fans can hold out hope that the movie will still happen under Disney’s guidance, there’s perhaps reason to be nervous, given the studio’s commitment to a family-friendly image.
But regardless of what the future holds for the Merc with a Mouth, it certainly looks like Fox’s X-Men universe will be coming to a close once The New Mutants hits theaters on August 2nd, 2019.
