Director David Leitch was at the helm for the highly successful sequel Deadpool 2, but his time with the franchise stopped there, as Marvel Studios tapped Shawn Levy to direct the upcoming third entry in the film.
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Speaking to Uproxx recently, Leitch was asked about his potential role in Deadpool 3 and if there’s any specific reason the director didn’t return to the highly anticipated film. According to him, it was a bit more of what he had on his plate than anything else.
“It’s probably more of what I’m doing and some circumstance,” said Leitch. “I love all of those worlds, and they’re all precious to me. Starting with John Wick. Chad has taken over that franchise and executed it beautifully. And Deadpool is amazing. And Atomic Blonde, I would love to go back. When I look back, I would love to go back to those worlds, but I think the way it’s worked out for me, or fate has brought me to this place, is that I get new opportunities and they’re really awesome, interesting, as well. Now moving on and doing The Fall Guy with Gosling, we’re prepping right now.”
However, when asked if The Fall Guy was one of the reasons he wouldn’t be returning to Deadpool for Deadpool 3, Leitch said that he did have conversations about the film, but nothing was ever offered to him. He also cited Marvel’s tight windows and strict calendars as a tough obstacle.
“No. Look, we had conversations about Deadpool 3, but I just was … I had things in the pipeline, too,” Leitch said. “And it was never, ‘Hey, do you want to do it or not want to do it?’ or whatever. I think it was more we knew our dance cards were kind of full on both sides. And we have a window. And Marvel has calendars.”
While not too much is known about Deadpool 3, it’s now being written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick from a previous draft by Bob’s Burgers duo Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has also previously assured fans that it will remain as an R-rated film just like the first two movies, which would make it the studio’s first movie with a mature rating.
It will also serve as the first movie in the Deadpool film series that will be released following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox. A release date for the movie has not yet been announced.
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The first two Deadpool films are both box-office successes as they earned a combined worldwide gross of over $1.5 billion. They were both written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, based on the Marvel character created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, with the first one directed by Tim Miller and Deadpool 2 directed by David Leitch.
