Deadpool Creator Rob Liefeld Questions Marvel Studios Phase 4 Plans, Says Deadpool 3 Not Happening

John F. Trent |

May 11, 2020

Deadpool, Cable, and Domino creator Rob Liefeld recently declared that Marvel Studios and head honcho Kevin Feige don’t have any plans at the moment for Deadpool whether that’s in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or separated in an R-Rated Marvel brand.

Liefeld discussed Deadpool late last week with Inverse and was rather blunt with his opinion on Marvel’s Phase 4 and their lack of plans for Deadpool.

When asked about a Deadpool/X-Force movie at around the 13 minute mark, Liefeld responds, “I don’t know. Here’s what people don’t want to hear, but thank God I’m a realist.”

Liefeld continued, “I feel like Deadpool the movies, they’ve set sail. We got two brilliant movies.”

He then went on to discuss current societal trends in the culture, “And we live in a culture that always looks forward because all they are ever selling us is next, next, next, next. ‘Yeah? You like that? Here’s next. Yeah, you like that? Here’s next.’ I’ve told my kids its a fever. It’s the fever. ‘You like Hunger Games? Well, we are going to start splitting those books into two movies. Okay? Chapter Three is two movies. And you like Twilight? Two movies. You like Harry Potter? It’s the fever.”

He continued, “For me, as the fever calms down people just need to chill out and realize that dude Deadpool 1 and 2 were released within two years of each 2016 and 2018.”

Liefeld then questioned Kevin Feige’s plan for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “I’m not really that crazy about Marvel’s plan right now. It’s the first time I go, ‘Hey Feige? Did you even have a plan? Your plan was Eternals and Shang-Chi? That was your plan? And Black Widow?”

He continued, “So they closed the door. Chris Evans says goodbye. Robert Downey Jr. says goodbye. Black Widow falls off a cliff, says goodbye. They almost lose Tom Holland to Sony. But ‘You’re a genius. But Marvel you’re geniuses.'”

Liefeld then added, “Look, if they started making Deadpool today it would come out in four years. I can’t get excited about that. I think that is the answer. I can’t gloss it up and go ‘Oh yea. Gee! Golly!’

He then stated that Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige don’t have any plans for Deadpool at the moment. Liefeld states, “You know what they have planned with Deadpool right now? They have goose egg. Zero. Zero. So enjoy the movies.”

Liefeld then encourages fans to embrace the past, “I’m living in the past. I’m just living in the past. Do like what I do. Live in the past.”

Liefeld then criticizes Marvel’s casting and costume decisions for The Eternals, “Really? The Eternals? That don’t even look like that…”

He then pulls up his giant Kirby Returns hardcover and states, “The Eternals are in here and they don’t look like what they’ve shown us so far.” He does add, “I had high hopes. And I still will. Give me a good trailer, okay.”

Liefeld would double down on his comments in an interview with ComicBook.com. When asked on why he doesn’t see a Deadpool 3 being made, Liefeld answered, “It all just seems poorly managed to me. It seems extremely poorly managed. It’s not Ryan. Ryan Reynolds is in the prime of his career. He is dining out all the time on the success of Deadpool.”

He later added, “I feel like Marvel is not used to what Ryan brought to the table. Just between you and me, Feige shapes those other films. And when we all talk about the Fantastic Four and X-Men, it’s like, ‘Oh! He’s going to fix those.’ Well, Deadpool doesn’t need fixing. It just needs for you to get out of the way, tell Ryan go ahead, make Deadpool 3 and turn it into us.”

Liefeld would then state, “I blame Marvel. Blame Marvel that that hasn’t happened yet. They are the reason it isn’t happening.”

He added, “Whatever conundrum or it didn’t fit into your master plan, just commission it. Okay, commission it. You know if Frank Frazetta was still around, you would say, ‘Frank paint for me.'”

He concluded, “If Ryan isn’t making Deadpool 3 right now that’s because Marvel hasn’t allowed it to be yet. And that’s all I’m saying.”

Liefeld’s comments come days after Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds indicated that he didn’t know when a Deadpool 3 film might happen.

Reynolds told Total Film, “Oh, man, I really don’t know.”

He continued, “It’s just all so new with it being over at Marvel now, and you know, figuring out the ins and outs as much as I can, from where I sit. We’ll see.”

Reynolds also added, “I don’t feel like an insider at all. I think once I’m more intimate with it – if we get to make a Deadpool 3… if or when we get to make a Deadpool 3, I’ll probably have a better perspective on that.”

“But I’m a huge fan of Marvel, and how they make movies. So when Disney bought Fox, I only saw that as a good thing. Deadpool hopefully being allowed to play in that sandbox, I think is just a win for everyone involved. But we’ll certainly see,” Reynolds concluded.

Reynolds had previously confirmed his team was working on Deadpool 3 back in March 2019, but that was right before Disney officially acquired Fox. While promoting the PG-13 release of Once Upon a Deadpool in China, Variety reported Reynolds confirmed they were working on the film.