Making headlines for its creative marketing, wise-cracking cast, and the ambitiously spot-on adaptation of the Deadpool character from Marvel Comics, Fox's latest X-Men installment is one of the most anticipated films of the year and just days away from release. Early reactions and reviews are positive, lending credence to the idea that Deadpool 2 is an inevitability.

While we were on the set of the first film in early summer 2015, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick made it clear what they wanted to do with a sequel, hinting that they very much already had ideas in mind. As for director Tim Miller and star Ryan Reynolds, they were hopeful of the sequel potential but have since changed their while promoting Deadpool's theatrical release from an optimistic tone to full-on confidence. That's because Fox has already greenlit the Deadpool sequel.

News of a followup being already in development shouldn't be surprising at all given the studio's exponentially increased focus on its Marvel Comics licenses, now targeting 2-3 releases annually like its comic book movie studio competitors. The scoop comes from THR who claim Reese and Wernick are already writing Deadpool 2 and while the studio hasn't announced it, they've greenlit it according to proven insiders.

Don't be surprised to see Deadpool 2 get an official release date in the coming days, if only to bolster the buzz and hype surrounding the first one's theatrical release.

This news is particularly exciting given that we just learned this week that there's a second secret post-credits scene at the end of Deadpool, potentially one that matches the ambitious exciting sequence button the writers teased last year. If that's true, and knowing the studio held it back from the press, we can only hope it has to do with Deadpool 2. And the one thing we can almost say for sure about the sequel, is that it'll include the time-travelling mutant soldier known as Cable - the ultimate buddy for Deadpool to play on screen with for years to come.

New Mutants Movie Announced

For fans curious about the status of X-Force and Deadpool appearing in it, the script previously written by Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2) wasn't greenlit into a movie since it was largely based on Apocalypse, a character Bryan Singer took for X-Men: Apocalypse instead. That combined with the leaked Deadpool test footage leading to a fast-tracked production of the Deadpool solo movie pushed X-Force off the table. Instead, Fox is currently developing The New Mutants with Josh Boone (The Fault In Our Stars) set to direct and co-writing alongside Knate Gwaltney. In the comics, New Mutants precedes X-Force so it's smarter to have it out alongside Deadpool 2 before potentially seeing some of its characters join up with Deadpool as a lethal (read: hopefully R-rated) spinoff of the modern X-Men.

We also know from our own chats with the writers and the director, that everyone is on the same page about making Deadpool 2 before seeing the character enlist in any team movies. All the more reason for The New Mutants coming first. That begin said, Ryan Reynolds did list X-Force as a top "priority" for himself in what to do next.

Either way, the good news is that everyone involved has been openly talking about sequels and with this latest news, we can expect it to happen quickly. Tracking for the fourth wall-breaking action comedy has Deadpool targeting $65 million over the four-day Valentine's Day weekend. Not bad for the lowest budget and only R-rated X-Men movie to date. Are you going to see it?

Next: It’s Time to Talk About Cable and Deadpool 2

Deadpool opens in theaters February 12, 2016; X-Men: Apocalypse on May 27, 2016; Gambit sometime in 2017; Wolverine 3 on March 3, 2017; and an unannounced X-Men film on July 13, 2018. The New Mutants is also in development.

Based upon Marvel Comics’ most unconventional anti-hero, DEADPOOL tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life.

The film is directed by Tim Miller, from a script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Ryan Reynolds stars, along with Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Yorick Van Wageningen, Gina Carano and Brianna Hildebrand. Producers include Simon Kinberg, Reynolds and Lauren Shuler Donner.

Source: THR