Ryan Reynolds Reportedly Developing 'Deadpool' and 'X-Men' Team-Up Film

Ryan Reynolds is reportedly in the early stages of exploring a movie that would see Deadpool team up with X-Men.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the star has been quietly developing treatments for an ensemble film that would feature Deadpool alongside three or four X-Men characters, with the Merc with a Mouth potentially sliding back into a supporting role.

Despite Deadpool & Wolverine earning a whopping $1.33 billion at the box office and becoming the top-grossing R-rated movie of all time, Reynolds supposedly doesn’t see himself starring in another solo Deadpool sequel.

“I’m more passionate about storytelling than I am about acting,” Reynolds told The Hollywood Reporter last year. “If I win, great. If I lose, I get to also feel like I was the architect of my own demise.”

The project, which is still far from becoming a reality, is separate from the X-Men movie currently being written by Hunger Games screenwriter Michael Lesslie.

Sources told the Reporter that Reynolds believes slightly sidelining Deadpool could make space for new, unexpected uses of the X-Men.

From bringing back Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and including characters like Colossus, Pyro, and Sabertooth, Reynold’s past work with the Marvel Cinematic Universe featured deep ties to the X-Men universe.

While no X-Men characters have been confirmed, Wicked star Cynthia Erivo has publicly lobbied to play Storm. SZA also said it would be “gnarly” to be part of Storm’s origin story in a superhero flick.

However, Reynolds also told the Reporter last year that Deadpool joining the X-Men or the Avengers could have unintended consequences.

“His ultimate dream is to be accepted and appreciated," he said. "But he can’t be accepted. His coping mechanism of deflecting shame through humor works only when used to pave over his many inadequacies. If and when he does become an Avenger or X-Man, we’re at the end of his journey.”