The cover of X-Force #1. Image: Marvel Comics

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes with the X-Men franchise. Logan hits theaters next month. A seventh sequel in the main series is in the works. New Mutants and Deadpool 2 will soon be filming and now there’s even an update on X-Force.


According to Collider, Joe Carnahan is currently adapting the comic for the big screen, but is not attached to direct. Previously, the director of Kick-Ass 2, Jeff Wadlow, was writing the film with an eye on directing, but that was before the success of Deadpool. One would think, after that film blew up like it did, everything about X-Force changed. Deadpool changed the entire tone and direction of the X-Men franchise. Plus, Deadpool 2 will be introducing the leader of the X-Force, Cable, so it seems like Wadlow’s work may have been put aside to accommodate all that, necessitating a new creative force. Hence Carnahan.

We contacted Carnahan, as well as his representation, to verify but they refused to comment.


Created by the same team who created Deadpool (Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza), X-Force was introduced in 1991. Their first issue remains one of the top-selling comics of all-time, telling the story of a new group of mutants, lead by Cable. We don’t know exactly where X-Force would fit into Fox’s X plans but here’s one scenario. We know for a fact that Cable will be introduced in Deadpool 2 (possibly along with another team member, Domino). We also know Josh Boone’s New Mutants movie is coming. After that, anything is possible but early rumors said a third Deadpool would feature other members of X-Force, leading into their movie. Maybe that still happens, or maybe X-Force happens sooner. It all depends on a lot of other things.

As for Carnahan, he has been incredibly busy of late. He’s currently prepping to direct the third Bad Boys film, Bad Boys 4 Life, and finished the screenplay to Shawn Levy’s Uncharted, based on the video game series. He also just announced he’s going to try and remake The Raid and, if this is true, now X-Force.

He’s a writer with a lot of grit, style, humor and ambition, making him perfect for big superhero movie. However, even if the script turns out great, these movies are so big, you never know what’s going to happen. Characters could change, plans could change, one movie could bomb and another could hit big. Which is a long way of saying, if Carnahan is writing X-Force, there is no guarantee this is the first sign of us finally seeing it on the big screen. It could be, but nothing is written in stone.

[Collider]