Deadpool was in the works for many, many years before 20th Century Fox finally agreed to greenlight an R-rated, foul-mouthed superhero movie. And even when Fox eventually said “yes”, there were conditions—the film’s budget was a fraction of the size of all the other X-Men movies so as to off-set the risk of such an atypical blockbuster. But the gamble paid off in a huge way to the tune of $782.6 million worldwide, and fans were immediately clamoring for more in the form of Deadpool 2.
The sequel has been a bit slow to materialize—or at least slow for blockbuster superhero franchises—and last week we may have learned why. Director Tim Miller, who made his directorial debut on Deadpool and had been with the film throughout its long development process, exited Deadpool 2 last week over creative differences with star Ryan Reynolds. The split is said to be amicable, but it certainly marks a setback for the film that is already in the midst of casting key roles.
Fox no doubt wants Deadpool 2 to hit theaters sooner rather than later, so a director search is now on. As such, we here at Collider have put together a list of candidates—some more likely than others—and are now turning it over to you, dear readers. Who should direct Deadpool 2?
It’s likely that Fox goes with someone who can maintain the cheeky, irreverent tone of Deadpool, but it’s unlikely that a major auteur director would be eager to jump into an already established franchise. Regardless, the below list is a mix of filmmakers that have experience or potential for an R-rated, darkly comedic superhero action film, and while some may be nothing more than a pipe dream (Edgar Wright, for one), we felt it prudent to include a pretty dynamic range of filmmakers.
So take a look at the candidates below, and sound off
Matthew Vaughn – X-Men: First Class, Kingsman: The Secret Service
Edgar Wright – Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Lexi Alexander – Punisher: War Zone
Ana Lily Amirpour – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Seth Gordon – Horrible Bosses, Identity Thief
Dan Trachtenberg – 10 Cloverfield Lane
Fede Alvarez – Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe
Adam Wingard – You’re Next, The Guest
Jordan Vogt-Roberts – Kings of Summer, Kong: Skull Island
Paul Feig – Spy, Ghostbusters
Josh Trank – Chronicle, Fantastic Four
Jorma Taccone & Akiva Schaffer – Popstar, MacGruber
Daniels – Swiss Army Man
Nacho Vigalando – Timecrimes, Colossal
Jordan Peele – Get Out
Jaume Collet-Serra – Non-Stop, The Shallows
Marjane Satrapi - The Voices
Ryan Reynolds – Hey, the first film was a passion project for Reynolds and he now wields even greater creative power for the follow-up—why not make it his directorial debut too?
