Deadpool may be the most "standalone" movie in the X-Men franchise to date, but it's not without its clear ties to the mutant superhero team. That's why Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead are in the film as supporting characters.

If Deadpool is a hit though - and all signs are pointing to that being the case - then Deadpool 2 is most likely the next project for star Ryan Reynolds and the "Merc with a Mouth" before the character enlists in any X-Men team movies - and when he eventually (and inevitably) does, it could be with X-Force.

Much like the Deadpool character, and other popular early '90s Marvel Comics mutants including Cable and Domino, the original X-Force (which served as a spinoff of The New Mutants) was largely a creation of Rob Liefeld. And where The New Mutants is another movie Twentieth Century Fox is actively developing, X-Force (which also has a script by Jeff Wadlow) will need some serious re-working.

As Liefeld revealed himself around the time of X-Men: Days of Future Past releasing in 2014, the plans for X-Men: Apocalypse as the next core X-movie threw a wrench in any X-Force plans since it was also using the character of Apocalypse.

Everything changed when X-Men Apocalypse was announced... RT @actionscomics: @robertliefeld and the movie of x-force? What's new?— robertliefeld (@robertliefeld) June 2, 2014

However, X-Force is also a brand that's very attractive and one that will no doubt be back on the table this week when Deadpool opens in theaters. Perhaps that's why Ryan Reynolds namedropped it as a "priority" during an interview with Filmstarts:

"In the future, if we're doing a bunch more Deadpool movies, we're gonna really explore the X-Men a lot. And maybe X-Force. X-Force is really my priority. I really want to get that in."

The full interview (below) is several minutes long and features a few other great quotes from Reynolds.

"This is the only superhero suit I've wanted to put on since 2005."

Reynolds explains how he tried so hard to make the movie happen years ago - even writing letters to executives at Fox - urging them to have confidence that fans will embrace Deadpool and that it can become a successful franchise. Well, it's about to. He called it, fans called it, and we called it years ago on the Screen Rant Underground podcast when I started the #WhyNotDeadpool hashtag every time the studio made a not-good or expensive box office bomb instead of throwing a mid-range budget at Deadpool.

Times have changed for the better. Watch the interview here where the Canadian star also talks about the importance of this character to him, the R rating, and grounding the character (a little bit) with a love story. Oh, and when you see Deadpool stick around through the credits because there are two (2!) post-credits scenes, one of them a big secret.

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: Filmstars (hat tip Chris S)