Last year, the trades confirmed that Deadpool and Wolverine star Ryan Reynolds was in the process of writing a new movie that would feature the Merc with a Mouth along with "three or four" X-Men characters.
We had assumed that this must be an X-Force movie, but we're now hearing that the project could actually be based on Alpha Flight.
According to Cartier Films, the film "could either fold into Deadpool 4 or stand on its own. And yes, they’re looking at an actor who could potentially debut as the new Wolverine."
Hugh Jackman will return as Logan in Avengers: Doomsday and is expected to appear in Secret Wars. Some scoopers believe that he may have signed on for at least one more MCU project in the Mutant Saga, but by the time this Alpha Flight film (if that's what it is) rolls around, it may indeed be time to introduce a new take on Ol' Canucklehead.
Alpha Flight, Canada's premier superhero team, debuted in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #120 back in 1979. Wolverine was a member of the original team, then known as The Flight, along with Groundhog, Snowbird, St. Elmo, Stitch, and Smart Alec. The later lineup included Guardian, Northstar, Aurora, Sasquatch, Shaman, and Puck.
The long-awaited X-Men reboot is finally starting to take shape, with Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier set to helm and writers Sonny Lee Sung Jin (Beef) and Joanna Calo (The Bear) currently working on a new draft of Michael Lesslie's script.
More recently, the main cast of the long-awaited movie was announced at D23, with Sadie Sink set to reprise her Spider-Man: Brand New Day role as Jean Grey, alongside Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Maya Boyd as Storm, and Adam Driver as Nathan Milbury/Mr. Sinister.
We'd later learn that Gen V and Scream 7 star Asa Germann will play Angel. Beast and Ice-Man are also expected to round out the original team of five from the comics, and a recent rumor claimed A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms star Peter Claffey has landed the role of the MCU's Hank McCoy.
Kevin Feige teased Marvel's plans for the X-Men shortly after SDCC.
"Acquiring the X-Men rights isn't just about... for example, Wolverine is an outstanding character, and we were able to team him up with Deadpool, which is great. But the X-Men are far more than just Wolverine, far more than the original team; fundamentally, it's a universe, a multi-stage saga. Much of that is what we're working towards."
"We’re constantly changing, constantly evolving, but having some guidance helps us act more purposefully, especially with X-Men—it’s already had 10 movies, some very, very good, some I think haven’t lived up to expectations—how do we plan the 'mutant saga' in a very grand way?"
"That being said, we have many more characters to explore in the future—the schedule is already booked until 2042, especially the X-Men," Feige added. "The X-Men have many unexplored characters from the Asia-Pacific region, particularly China, which we're very eager to explore. That's why I'm excited about the X-Men: we can show the world different types of heroes."