While X-Men Origins: Wolverine has come and gone as we pass over the opening peak of the summer movie season, there’s a ton to look forward for the X-Men franchise.

As we already know, X-Men: First Class, Deadpool and a Wolverine sequel are all in the works for Fox Studios and their X-Men franchise. Two of which (possibly all three) are spinoffs or will be connected to last month’s Wolverine origin flick. Because of that, what we have for you today is still relevant.

The following images are concept art for some of the support characters in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. They depict exactly what Live Schreiber’s Sabretooth character looked like on screen and some early variations of what Ryan Reynold’s character could have looked like as Wade Wilson and as Weapon XI (Deadpool).

The art is by Phillip Boutte Jr. and Jerad S Marantz, take a look and see what you think [Click to enlarge]:

x-men origins wolverine - victor creed sabretooth concept art

x-men origins wolverine-deadpool_face_concept_art

x-men origins wolverine weapon xi deadpool concept art

The Weapon XI post-augmentation images are a little extreme but would have worked on screen if that character wasn’t one and the same as Deadpool [insert sad face]. If that were some clone or other experiment who was fed a bunch of mutant powers, I would of dug it as he looks freaky as hell and would make for a cool villain in the final confrontation.

As for the pre-augmentation image of Deadpool/Wade Wilson, it looks cool too. You can see the resemblance to the modern Deadpool costume from the comics mixed with a mercenary outfit. Seeing this makes me wonder why they went so overly simple with what Reynolds wore in the film.

Either way, it may hint at something he could wear at some point in the Deadpool solo flick that he’s currently planning. The Canadian star confirmed that we will see the infamous red-and-black costume in the film and that it will closely follow the comics – just as he wanted all along leading up to the release of Wolverine.

I think the concept art is pretty cool and I think Ryan Reynolds is more cool. With him in charge of the project (at least seemingly for now), I have hope for this movie even though the last two X-Men films by Fox have let me down.

What do you think of the images and of Deadpool?

To see more of the art for characters including The Blob, Beak, Wolverine and others, check out the personal blogs of the two artists linked below.

Sources: Phillip Boutte Jr., Jerad S Marantz