The development occurs just weeks after Fox lost Tim Miller as the director to the X-Men spinoff sequel. Miller, who was an integral part of the first Deadpool, which opened in February, exited the project over "creative differences" with star Ryan Reynolds.

Leitch's name surfaced just days after Miller's exit, although the producers and studio had other filmmakers such as Rupert Sanders, Drew Goddard and Magnus Martens on their to-meet list. Leitch met with Reynolds in New York and was offered the gig soon after.

At the same time, Fox and the producers are also putting into motion Deadpool 3 and will be searching for a separate filmmaker to tackle that installment.

Leitch is well versed in action-movie parlance. He made his directorial debut in 2014 co-helming Wick, the Keanu Reeves revenge thriller, with Chad Stahelski. Before that, however, he and Stahelski spent years as stunt coordinators and second unit directors, creating a stunt company named 87eleven.

Leitch recently wrapped filming on his second feature, The Coldest City, a Cold War thriller starring Charlize Theron.

He is repped by WME, Kelly McCormick and Gang Tyre.