Well how is this for a bit of potentially awesome news to kick off the weekend properly? It was revealed earlier in the week that director Tim Miller would no longer be helming Deadpool 2 due to “creative differences” with star/producer Ryan Reynolds. While fans initially balked at this news, seeing as how Miller was so instrumental in bringing the fan-favourite character to the screen after years of failed attempts, further details seemed to indicate that the split may have been a good thing.
But good move or not, that still left the production without a director. With Deadpool‘s gigantic success, Fox would need to really find somebody who can live up to that. And it seems they may just be looking at a wick-ed choice, as Mashable is reporting that David Leitch is currently the studio’s frontrunner for the gig.
Leitch paid his dues starting off his career as a stunt double on some of Hollywood’s biggest movies, like Fight Club, Blade, The Matrix Trilogy and more. Eventually though he became a stunt coordinator and second-unit director for a number of big budget productions. In 2014 though, he teamed up with fellow stuntman turned filmmaker Chad Stahelski (who was actually Brandon Lee’s stunt double on The Crow, and film most of the remaining scenes after Lee’s tragic onset death) and the pair combined their technical flair for stunts with their directing to give the world John Wick, one of the best action movies of the last decade!
With the explosion of John Wick, Leitch and his co-director have found themselves in serious demand. Leitch and Stahelski have just finished the upcoming John Wick 2, and are already working on a third film. On top of that, Leitch is also already attached to a number of projects, including Valiant Comics’ Bloodshot adaptation and Cowboy Viking Ninja with Chris Pratt. All of that means that scheduling might be an issue here seeing as Fox would probably not want to wait too long after the breakout success of Deadpool. Mashable does make sure to state that Leitch is not the only director being considered, but that “Reynolds’ agency, WME, has been pushing the star (and the studio) to hire one of its own clients, and Leitch is at the top of that list”.
Leitch also has another connection to Reynolds and Deadpool as he actually served as the stunt coordinator on X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the much maligned 2009 movie in which Reynolds first played the character of Deadpool (though a horribly butchered version).
Personally, I think that Leitch is about as perfect a choice to helm the sequel as there can be. His action directing acumen is second to none, and he’s even already shown what he can do with big comic book movies as he served as second-unit director on Captain America: Civil War as well. Currently, there’s no formal offer on the table from the studio, but if I were the Fox execs I would put one together immediately with MAXIMUM EFFORT!
Last Updated: October 28, 2016
