In late 2016, it looked like 20th Century Fox was already planning Deadpool 3 even though Deadpool 2 was still in development. The plan seemed to be to keep giving Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) his own movies, but also launch X-Force, which would include Deadpool in a team dynamic. Now that we’ve gotten a closer look at Deadpool 2, it appears that the upcoming sequel will introduce X-Force, and that means Deadpool 3 could be up in the air a bit.

Speaking to Starnews Korea (via /Film), Reynolds said that he thinks Deadpool 3 is unlikely, and that the next appearance of the character would be an X-Force movie (the quote on Deadpool 3 is at the 23 minute mark)

“For Deadpool 3, you know, it’s an odd thing to say but I don’t think there will be a Deadpool 3. I think going forward it would be an X-Force movie, which would be his team, so to speak.”

Reynolds went on to say that while X-Force has a team dynamic, they’re more morally flexible than a team like the Avengers and are willing to do the dirty jobs other people don’t want.

While it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if the X-Force movie is called Deadpool and X-Force, I’m slightly more surprised at Reynolds’ admission that he thinks Deadpool 3 won’t happen. It would stand to reason that Fox would want both Deadpool and X-Force franchises, especially since X-Force would have a different dynamic than a Deadpool movie.

Of course, the elephant in the room for all of this is the looming Disney-Fox merger, which would set Fox’s superhero properties on their head. They have to continue to proceed like it’s business as usual, but if the merger goes through, then all the superhero properties move into the MCU, and it remains to be seen what Kevin Feige would want to do with R-rated characters like Deadpool and his pals.

Deadpool 2 opens May 18th.

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Image via 20th Century Fox
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Image via 20th Century Fox
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Image via 20th Century Fox