How 'Deadpool 2' Sets Up the 'X-Force' Movie
They're young enough to last a whole franchise for ten to twelve years.
Deadpool is back, and this time, he’s not alone. In Deadpool 2, directed by David Leitch, Wade Wilson recruits a team of mutants (plus Peter) to stop the cyborg mutant Cable, from murdering an innocent but powerful mutant kid, Russell. It’s a tough job, but Deadpool has the X-Force by his side.
Or does he? Spoilers for Deadpool 2 ahead.
In Deadpool 2, just after Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) has successfully assembled his X-Force and skydive to stop Cable (Josh Brolin), virtually all of the new recruits — including Shatterstar (Lewis Tan), Bedlam (Terry Crews), Zeitgeist (Bill Skarsgård), and even Peter (Rob Delaney) — die horribly, in spectacular fashion. The only one who lives is Domino (Zazie Beetz), thanks to her special mutant power of luck.
At the end of the film, however, a new X-Force assembles: It’s Deadpool (of course), Cable, Domino, Firefist (Julian Dennison), and Dopinder (Karan Soni). Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) Negasonic (Brianna Hildebrand) and her girlfriend, Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna) are all technically X-Men, but they seem to be ready to help out.
The whole thing is a massive gag that spoofs modern superhero movies that cram in new characters as obvious ploys to set up future movies. But an X-Force movie is absolutely spinning off from Deadpool 2. It’s just not the X-Force we meet in the movie. They were a fake-out, a joke pulled off by both Leitch and Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld.
“It’s sort of like performance art,” Leitch told Inverse. “We have this plan to subvert them in the trailers and make them part of a campaign and build up the expectation and just pull the rug out from the audience. It’s Deadpool reaching from beyond the screen to trick you. It’s fascinating to me as another extension of the film.”
R.I.P.(D.) X-Force. We hardly knew ye.
Liefeld echoes these sentiments in a separate interview with Inverse. “It’s hilarious,” he says, confirming that the new X-Force at the end of the film are the true new X-Force. “That’s a new X-Force at the end of the movie” he says. “I knew about it since last summer.”
Knowing that fans might be peeved that fan-favorites like Shatterstar are getting the short end of the stick, Liefeld says all the marbles were always going to be on Deadpool, Domino, and Cable. “I hope the fans survive. I feel for them. But my focus is on Cable, Domino, and Deadpool. They’re the big stars. I tell people, just focus on them. I hope the fans deal with it. If we can get through X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we can get through this.”
One thing’s for sure though: We’re going to miss Peter.
Deadpool 2 hits theaters on May 18.
