EXCLUSIVE: Fox has set Drew Goddard to write and direct X-Force, the X-Men universe pic that revolves around Deadpool and Cable leading a Black Ops force of down and dirty mutant warriors who are far more ruthless than their X-Men counterparts. Simon Kinberg, Ryan Reynolds and Lauren Shuler Donner are producing. Goddard is next directing for Fox Bad Times at the El Royale with Chris Hemsworth and Jeff Bridges, but he has already cracked the script and will roll right into X-Force when he is finished.

Reynolds’ Deadpool will for sure be the centerpiece of X-Force, and when Kinberg discussed the property publicly, he added Cable as a major component. Josh Brolin is playing the character in Deadpool 2.

Getting Goddard is a coup for the studio. He has been destined to spearhead a superhero franchise for a long time. Aside from launching the Daredevil series for Netflix, Goddard wrote to direct The Martian, but stepped aside for Ridley Scott to instead direct his script for the Spider-Man villain spinoff The Sinister Six, until that film was scrapped for the new iteration of the webslinger. Now Goddard has his franchise.

While other studio superhero moves have gotten more attention lately, Fox has continued to mine the X-Men universe, with strong up and coming directors. The Fault in Our Stars helmer Josh Boone has completed the spinoff X-Men: New Mutants for release April 13. David Leitch wrapped Deadpool 2 for June 1, and the Kinberg-directed X-Men: Dark Phoenix gets released November 2.

Goddard is repped by UTA.