Ryan Reynolds Plots Wild Deadpool/X-Men Crossover — But He Might Not Be the Star

Ryan Reynolds might return as Deadpool, but not in a solo movie this time. Instead, he’s thinking about making a film where Deadpool teams up with a few X-Men characters. It’s still very early, and nothing has been pitched to Marvel Studios yet. But Reynolds is working on a few ideas and writing treatments on his own.

This comes after the huge success of Deadpool & Wolverine, which made over a billion. The movie became the highest-grossing R-rated film ever. Even with that big win, Reynolds said he didn’t want to do another solo Deadpool film.

Now, nine months later, he’s planning something new. According to sources who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, Reynolds is writing different versions of a movie that would include three or four X-Men characters.

Deadpool would still appear, but not as the main character. Reynolds thinks that by putting Deadpool in a smaller role, the X-Men can shine in fun and surprising ways.

“He needs a reason to be in a movie,” a source said. Reynolds has always said every Deadpool movie must have a strong reason to exist. This new idea might be it.

This project is not the same as the X-Men movie being written by Hunger Games writer Michael Lesslie. That’s a separate Marvel Studios project.

We don’t know yet which X-Men characters might be in Reynolds’ film. But Cynthia Erivo, the Oscar-nominated star of Wicked, has said she wants to play Storm in the MCU. Reynolds honored Erivo at an event earlier this year, but any casting decisions would be up to Marvel.

Reynolds has a history with X-Men characters. He brought back villains like Sabertooth and Pyro in Deadpool & Wolverine, and Colossus has appeared in all three Deadpool movies.

He also convinced Hugh Jackman to return as Wolverine and even wrote a role for Channing Tatum as Gambit, a character who never got his own movie. Tatum is now expected to appear in Avengers: Doomsday, along with classic X-Men actors like Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Alan Cumming, and Rebecca Romijn.

Reynolds has been focusing on writing lately. He’s also working on Boy Band, a comedy about a group of aging boy band members. Reynolds will star in it, and his close friend Hugh Jackman might co-star too.

Reynolds said something similar last month at the Time 100 Summit. He talked about how Deadpool’s dream is to be part of a team like the Avengers or X-Men. But if that ever happens, it could mean Deadpool’s story is over.

“I like that he’s isolated,” Reynolds said. “If Deadpool becomes an Avenger or an X-Man, we’re at the end. That’s his wish fulfillment, and you can’t give him that.”

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