Ryan Reynolds will at last get his own X-Men movie universe based solo vehicle as Wade 'The Merc With a Mouth' Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool in 2016, after years of rumors and false alarms concerning the project. Meanwhile, Hugh Jackman is gearing up for his final onscreen appearance as Logan/Wolverine in 2017, with an X-Men solo adventure simply known as Wolverine for the time being.
Deadpool, like The Wolverine before it, will ignore the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (save for a fourth wall-knocking reference or two), by picking up with cancer-struck special forces operative Wade Wilson as he undergoes an operation that will imbue him with Wolverine-esque healing abilities. An unrated trailer for Deadpool shown at San Diego Comic-Con 2015 has generated a whole lot of buzz for the film, based on the decidedly adult humor and cheeky tone of the footage from director Tim Miller's comic book movie (which is in keeping with the spirit of most Deadpool comic book storylines).
The plot setup for Deadpool is fairly straightforward - Wilson "hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life" after gaining his new powers - whereas the plot for Wolverine remains something of a mystery. Jackman has alluded to Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's Old Man Logan comic book story on several occasions, but has yet to confirm if the current script (from writer Michael Green) actually takes inspiration from that famous comic story or not. Patrick Stewart, meanwhile, has indicated that the film might pair his older Charles Xavier/Professor X with Logan on a buddy adventure of sorts (building on their reunion near the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past).
In the meantime, Jackman has asked his Twitter followers what they want to see in Wolverine. Check out the related Tweet, below:
My last time putting on the claws. What do you want to see happen? 50 words or less. I'll read as many as I can. pic.twitter.com/ksA1Gii5tf— Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) July 27, 2015
The Wolverine director James Mangold is returning to call the shots on Jackman's final Wolverine film, so it stands to reason that this new X-Men movie will build on the themes of its immediate predecessor and bring Logan's tale to a fitting close (symbolically, if not also literally). A comparatively more serious and perhaps somber Wolverine solo movie should make a fitting compliment to the less weighty (not to mention, more darkly comical) Deadpool solo feature, in the grand scheme of X-Men solo films, too.
A green band Deadpool trailer has been rated and is expected to be attached to 20th Century Fox's next Marvel superhero film release - the Fantastic Four movie franchise reboot - opening in theaters next week (at the time of writing this). Deadpool, which is based on a script by Zombieland writing duo Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, also costars Morena Baccarin (Gotham) as Vanessa Carlysle, Wade's girlfriend; T.J. Miller (Silicon Valley) as Weasel, Wade's best friend; and Gina Carano (Fast & Furious 6) and relative newcomer Brianna Hildebrand as mutants Angel Dust and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, respectively.
You can check out the latest Deadpool images released online below (via Empire), ahead of the trailer's presumed debut next week:
NEXT: Deadpool Comic-Con Trailer Description
Fantastic Four opens in theaters on August 7, 2015, followed by Deadpool on February 12, 2016; X-Men: Apocalypse on May 27, 2016; Gambit on October 7, 2016; Wolverine on March 3, 2017; Fantastic Four 2 on June 9, 2017; and some as-yet unspecified X-Men film on July 13, 2018.
Source: Hugh Jackman, Empire