Remember that Deadpool animated series we were all excited for back in 2017? With the success of the Ryan Reynolds-fronted movies, the involvement of Donald Glover as showrunner and the fact that it was going out on FX, known for its acclaimed productions, it seemed like a surefire hit. Then, in early 2018, the plug was pulled on the project, leaving fans devastated and Glover sharing passive-aggressive fake scripts on Twitter.
So, why did the Deadpool show fail to make it on air? Well, the topic came back up during the TCA winter press tour, with FX CEO John Landraf explaining that it wasn’t his decision and that the death notice for what’d have been the Merc with a Mouth’s first TV series came from Marvel themselves, who apparently didn’t feel the show fit with their vision for the brand.
“Deadpool didn’t work out because Marvel didn’t want to make it. It didn’t fit what they wanted to do with Deadpool and it’s their brand and their decision.”
From what little we know about Glover’s plan for the series, it fits that Marvel might get cold feet about going ahead with it. We were told that it would have had a tone that’s “distinctly different” from the films, with Glover and his team hoping to evoke the feel of an edgy adult animated series like Rick and Morty. Stephen Glover, brother to Donald and his co-EP on the show, has revealed that one crazy episode would’ve even featured Taylor Swift, which he described as the “last straw” for the House of Ideas.
Clearly, the Glovers’ version of the Deadpool animated series is dead, but it sounds like Marvel still hopes to get some iteration of it in the works. DP creator Rob Liefeld says he’s confident that an animated show will happen while Landgraf has previously stated the same thing. That’s good news for fans of the Regenerating Degenerate, but it’s frustrating that we’ll never see the wild show that Donald Glover cooked up.
