‘Deadpool 2’ will be used to set up an ‘X-Force’ film.
Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have revealed the sequel, which sees Ryan Reynolds reprise his role as the wise-cracking anti-hero, will be responsible for introducing the military mutant squad created by Marvel Comics.
The co-writers insist the focus of ‘Deadpool 2’ – directed by David Leitch – will be to tell a Wade Wilson story but there will be an entry point to the X-Force characters.
In an interview with Collider, Reese said: "There is a responsibility we have to the ‘X-Force’ universe, and I do think we will not disappoint the fans going into ‘Deadpool 2’ and then setting up ‘X-Force’ and beyond … Its purpose is not to set up ‘X-Force’. It will likely set up ‘X-Force’, but the drive of the movie won’t be our eyes on movie three."
Wernick added: "We never want to let the tail wag the dog. We want to tell the best ‘Deadpool’ story we can. But I do think we have a responsibility to think about a larger universe in the way that Marvel does and start to put pieces in place … but we want to avoid that responsibility to the extent that it hurts us. We want to hint at things, we want to plan some characters, and we want to make some nods, but we’re very, very cognisant about making sure that ‘Deadpool’ is above all a ‘Deadpool’ movie."
The X-Force black ops group has at times featured Wolverine, Psylocke, Cyclops, Deadpool himself, Domino, Cable and Colossus among many other characters.
Colossus, Domino and Cable have all already been confirmed to be appearing in 20th Century Fox’s ‘Deadpool 2’.
Reynolds, 40, has previously admitted that making an ‘X-Force’ movie is his number one "priority" because he is such a fan of the comic book series.
He said: "In the future, if we’re doing a bunch more ‘Deadpool’ movies, we’re really going to explore the X-Men a lot. And maybe X-Force. X-Force is my priority. I really want to get that in."