Fans of the Merc with Mouth may have to wait a little longer for any good news about Deadpool 3 as Ryan Reynolds has offered an update on the production that is not reassuring at all.
Digital Spy reports that Reynolds has said in an interview that he literally has no idea what the status of Deadpool 3 is at the moment, citing the global coronavirus pandemic as the reason for everything being on pause at the moment.
The interest in a third Deadpool movie is particularly high since Disney now owns 20th Century Fox, which holds the rights to the character. The acquisition opens up the possibility of Deadpool becoming part of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe and interacting with other characters. But as Reynolds points out, no clear plans have been made with regards to the character and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
However, other people involved and invested in the Deadpool movie are more vocal about where they think the delay is. One such person is Rob Liefield, who co-created the character alongside Fabian Nicieza.
Comicbook.com quotes Liefeld as saying that Marvel Studios is squarely to blame for the delays with regards to Deadpool 3. According to him, the only reason Reynolds is not doing the new Deadpool movie is that the studio isn’t allowing it.
Liefeld also pointed out that the two Deadpool movies are R-rated films that collectively made $1 billion, showing that it is something that people want. He decried the delay in the production and noted that culture moves quickly in this day and age and the property might be left behind.
Nevertheless, Liefeld said he has also made peace with the fact that there may only be two Deadpool movies made. He said that the two movies were great experiences and two movies that he was proud of being a part of.
In this day and age of the global coronavirus pandemic, delays like these are no longer a surprise, even for such highly-anticipated blockbusters like a Deadpool movie is expected to be. For instance, the release of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet has been repeatedly delayed before it secured the approval of Chinese authorities to be released in China.
Other tentpole movies with uncertain release dates include Wonder Woman 1984 and Black Widow.
Whether there will be any progress made on a possible Deadpool 3 movie remains to be seen, as the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic makes it difficult for productions to proceed. As of Aug. 4, the update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pegs the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States at 4,698,818 people. COVID-19 has caused the deaths of 155,204 people in the United States.
As to worldwide numbers, the World Health Organization’s situation report for Aug. 4 puts the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at 18,142,718 people. Deaths caused by COVID-19 are now at 691,013 people.