Kick-Ass 2 didn't live up to expectations but the movie put Jeff Wadlow on the map and it didn't take long until he signed on to take the helm of X-Force. Since then, a Deadpool solo outing was released to great success and now a sequel to that is on the way and Drew Goddard is developing a different take on X-Force (which may or may not happen depending on how quick Disney now acquires Fox).
In a new interview, Wadlow was asked why his version never came to pass and shed some light on what he had planned for the team, including casting Ryan Reynolds as his Merc with the Mouth.
"I wrote a draft and they really liked it. They just reached a critical moment, where they were deciding whether they were going to make Deadpool or X-Force. I’ve always loved Deadpool and I tried to rehabilitate him in my X-Force movie because, like the rest of the fans, I felt like they totally screwed it up in X-Men: Origins. I had actually been talking to Ryan Reynolds about playing him in my X-Force movie, but my X-Force movie was much more focused on Cable and the New Mutants becoming this paramilitary unit. So, Fox was trying to decide whether they going to do the Deadpool solo movie or my X-Force movie. Fortunately, they picked the Deadpool solo movie because it’s great. Fortunately for the world, I should say, but unfortunately for me. But, I have no complaints about the process. I’m a huge fan of Ryan’s and I loved the Deadpool solo movie. I’m super excited for Deadpool 2. It’s a little bit of a bummer, but that’s life in the big leagues."
It sounds like Wadlow wanted to put most of the focus on the movie's younger cast members too as he would have explored how Cable's New Mutants would have differed to Professor Xavier's X-Men.
"When I pitched for it, I said, ‘If X-Men is about the mutants that get to go to private school, I want to make a movie about the mutants that go to public school. They’re the kids that don’t have a jet swooping down to help them, with Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart. What’s it like when you don’t have those guys helping you out and you’re forced to figure out who you are in this world?’"
What did Wadlow have planned for Masters of the Universe? Click below for the rest of the story.
The director was attached to Masters of the Universe in 2014 and that's another project which has since gone through a few different filmmakers as the studio behind it struggles to find a tone that will work today. Wadlow's version was going to be more in line with Guardians of the Galaxy but the studio wanted a more straightforward fantasy tone which they believed would have worked better.
"I had a really irreverent take on Masters of the Universe, and the studio, at the time, was very focused on a Game of Thrones/Lord of the Rings take. I love He-Man. I still have all my original figures from the ‘80s. That’s how I got the job. I brought them in and put them on the table and was like, ‘This is why I’m a director!’ I wrote a scene where Prince Adam meets Ram Man and says to him, ‘So, they call you Ram Man, huh?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah.’ And he goes, ‘Do you like that name?’ And Ram Man goes, ‘I’m owning it.’ So, there was an irreverence to it, but at the time, that just didn’t gel with what they wanted to do.
"It’s interesting now, with Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy. I think that’s sort of what I was trying to do, but either I was too early or they just never saw it that way. That’s the weird thing about making movies in the studio system. You can have a take and a real point of view, but if it doesn’t line up with the point of view of the people who are writing the checks, it doesn’t matter. That’s why working with Jason [Blum] has been so fantastic. He’s changing the way that movies are made. He’s basically saying, ‘As long as we keep the budget down, it doesn’t matter what I think. I want you to do what you think is best.’"
Would you have liked to see Wadlow's versions of X-Force and Masters of the Universe? Do you think he could end up attached to another comic book/sci-fi movie? Share your thoughts down below.