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Before the Disney/Fox merger became official in 2019, 20th Century Fox produced its own slate of Marvel movies that were separate from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, using characters they had acquired the film rights to. Among the most successful of these endeavors were the first two Deadpool movies, which are among the highest-grossing R-rated titles of all time. 2018’s Deadpool 2 ended with Wade Wilson and Co. seemingly forming their own superhero team, setting the stage for an X-Force film. Such a project was in development, with Drew Goddard attached, but it obviously never came to fruition. Now, Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld has shed some light on the cancelled X-Force movie.
On Twitter, Liefeld shared a series of posts lamenting the loss of X-Force, calling Goddard a “MASSIVE talent.” Elsewhere, Liefeld stated the movie would have featured the character Stryfe and that the project “was denied by [Kevin] Feige” after the Disney/Fox merger went through. Check out Liefeld’s posts in the space below:
We were so close… with a MASSIVE talent. https://t.co/I8hRsbFvSn
— robliefeld (@robertliefeld) July 2, 2026
Sadly, it was denied by Feige. But you got The Marvels and whatever Cap 4 was!!! https://t.co/fCwiawEH0R
— robliefeld (@robertliefeld) July 1, 2026
💯- had Drew Goddard writing & directing X-Force. I spoke with him about it, he so psyched. https://t.co/jVYNUDXd43
— robliefeld (@robertliefeld) July 1, 2026
Yes. Written by Drew Goddard. With Stryfe. https://t.co/TLWBJMSUHH
— robliefeld (@robertliefeld) July 1, 2026
Can An X-Force Movie Happen At Marvel Studios?
The ship has unfortunately sailed on Goddard’s original version of X-Force. Too much has changed behind the scenes with corporate mergers, and the Deadpool series is in a very different place now then it was back in the late 2010s when Goddard first signed on. Marvel Studios made a third Deadpool film, but instead of continuing the X-Force thread established in Deadpool 2, they took things in a very different direction, pairing Ryan Reynolds with Hugh Jackman for the blockbuster hit Deadpool & Wolverine. Integral Deadpool 2 characters like Cable and Domino didn’t appear, their absence addressed in a punchline about how X-Force members “didn’t test well in focus groups.”
Deadpool & Wolverine is one of the biggest successes of Marvel’s otherwise uneven Multiverse Saga (grossing $1.338 billion worldwide), but it would have been entertaining to have seen Goddard’s take on X-Force come to life. He has established himself as one of the most creative voices in genre filmmaking today, writing the scripts for critically acclaimed sci-fi hits The Martian and Project Hail Mary and directing the inventive meta horror The Cabin in the Woods. Fans would definitely have liked to see him put his spin on a fan-favorite mutant team. Goddard has plenty of experience with comic book adaptations, working on Netflix’s Daredevil and The Defenders, so he was well within his wheelhouse on X-Force.
The inclusion of Stryfe would have been a fascinating wrinkle in Goddard’s X-Force. In the comics, Stryfe is a mutant clone of Nathan Summers, aka Cable. If X-Force had been made, it undoubtedly would have had fun with that dynamic, pitting Cable against an alternate version of himself. Deadpool’s jokes about there being two Cables running around write themselves. Goddard would have found an entertaining and creative way to tackle this angle, and it’s a shame fans never got to see it.
Mutants are set to play a key part in the MCU moving forward, with the X-Men reboot one of Marvel’s most important projects after Avengers: Secret Wars. If the next era of the MCU truly is the Mutant Saga, that would theoretically open the door for an adaptation of X-Force to eventually hit the screen. It may not happen for a while, however, as Marvel will probably look to establish its new X-Men team first before branching out into something else with the mutants. Since Goddard remains at the top of his game, perhaps he’ll finally get a chance to see X-Force through one day. That would be a nice way to bring things full circle.
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