Heroic Hollywood’s Guide To The Future Of X-Men Films: 2017-2020

X-Force (TBA 2019/2020)

• Dir. TBA
• Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Cable himself

An X-Force film has been in development even prior to production on Deadpool with Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2) signing on to write and direct way back in 2013. That version died on the vine once the latter become a priority. It picked up steam again post-Deadpool when Reynolds listed the film as a personal priority.Now, that film has begun the journey that, I think, will lead to X-Force. It’s just taking a bit longer because they have to make Deadpool 2 as the lead-in with its introduction of Cable.

I envision an X-Force film as a kind of like The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow, with an irreverent band of misfits and antiheroes venturing into time travel and alternate dimensions for trippy sci-fi adventures. But in my opinion the best example of what this adaptation could be is Rick and Morty. Marry that brilliant show’s talent for faithful honoring and good-natured skewering of sci-fi tropes with the badass, R-rated world of Deadpool + cool ensemble cast and you have a recipe for replicating the innate meta-weirdness that propelled the Merc with a Mouth’s debut feature.

Speaking of meta, arguably more interesting than some of the rote storytelling in the films is the roundabout path the series has taken. It’ll have taken three films to get Wolverine right, eight years and two actors to get a Gambit movie made, almost a decade to make Deadpool and the next X-Men film is boldly going . . . back to where we started, to finally give the Dark Phoenix her due. The series has always been sluggish, turning with the times like an old creaky ship. But despite being trapped in the past for the longest time, the X-Men seem ready for the next step in superhero evolution.