Looks like Fox studios has hit a bump in the road as they have been in the pre-production phases for their sequel to the highly successful hit, Deadpool. Tim Miller has decided to part ways with the team due to creative differences with Ryan Reynolds, who has been a producer for this new Deadpool “franchise” for Fox.
This is bit of a turn of events since both Ryan Reynolds and Tim Miller were the clear reasons why the film was so successful the first time around. Ryan Reynolds personifies the character of Deadpool, the quick witted raunchy and immortal mercenary of Marvel comics, and was able to successfully translate Deadpool’s comic characterizations into the live action take. Additionally, it was thanks to Tim Miller’s directorial mind that helped to set Deadpool apart from the rest of the superhero genre we are being over-saturated with today. This duo helped Fox rake in $786 million worldwide during the film’s release weekend last year. The success of the film definitely revitalized Reynolds career as an A-list leading man, and brought Tim Miller into a new light for the work he does. For those of you who don’t know, Tim Miller has been the director for creative movies such as “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”, “Thor: The Dark World”, and “The girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Despite being a small list of features, those films (maybe besides Thor) have been creatively successful hits.
Rumor has it that the creative differences between Reynolds and Miller had them butting heads over how the sequel should be portrayed, which in turn has caused a rift in their casting choices. Tim Miller feels that Deadpool 2 should be a little more “stylized” while Reynolds wants to keep the raunchy and 4th wall breaking nature of the film that brought them worldwide success. Miller and Reynolds ultimately came to butt heads due to casting decisions. To note, Reynolds’ renegotiated contract gives him casting decisions and approval powers.
As rumors had been spreading since the release of Deadpool, the casting rumors and fan requests for the sequel’s Cable, the time traveling mutant who partners with Deadpool throughout their comic adventures spread like wildfire with actors like Stephen Lang posting photos of himself. Tim Miller had been eyeing Kyle Chandler (“Bloodline”, “Friday Night Lights”, “The Wolf of Wall Street”) to take that role, but Reynolds saw differently and was ultimately the reason why Miller left the team.
It’s unfortunate, but this is all just part of the “business” aspect of this creative industry. The positive thing is that Tim Miller’s split from the team was amicable and understood that it was simply creative differences. Miller has been placed on another project for Fox titled “Influx”, but I hope that Fox will be able to find someone who can bring the same visual style that Miller gave us.
