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'Deadpool 3' Won't Be 'Disney-fied', So Everybody Relax

The merc with a mouth versus the House of Mouse.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
Richard Trenholm
2 min read
Deadpool holds up a boombox like in that scene in Say Anything.
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Deadpool holds up a boombox like in that scene in Say Anything.

Deadpool won't be told what to do by Disney.

20th Century Fox

Deadpool could be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe now. Hurray! That means Deadpool is owned by Disney. Oh no! Luckily the writers of Deadpool 3 promise that the merc with a mouth won't be "Disney-fied" in the next movie.

The Playlist discussed the flick with writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the scribes behind the irreverent Zombieland and Deadpool films as well as forthcoming Netflix sci-fi chiller Spiderhead. The first two Deadpool films were R-rated superhero flicks made by 20th Century Fox, which owned the rights to the X-Men comic characters but had to make the films separate from the MCU (a bit like Sony's Venom and Morbius).

But in 2017 Disney bought Fox, which killed Marvel spinoff Gambit with Channing Tatum. Fortunately Deadpool 3 is going ahead with Ryan Reynolds and director Shaun Levy (who directed Reynolds in Free Guy and The Adam Project), although the writers acknowledge some awkwardness. "It's two completely different regimes," Reese told Playlist. "It was Fox, all these different people, and now it's not those people anymore. It's these [Disney] people, and these people do things their way. And we were used to doing things our way, so there are differences, but I think the great part is that Marvel's been incredibly supportive."

The third Deadpool movie doesn't have a release date yet, but it seems Marvel and Disney are going to give fans more of that sweet foul-mouthed banter and fourth-wall-breaking backchat. Whether that means a crossover with the MCU remains to be seen, but it's hopeful that all involved are putting in, wait for it, maximum effort!

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