Earlier this year an adult R-rated Deadpool animated series was in development from brothers Donald and Stephen Glover for FX network, but then the series was abruptly canceled, with the reason at first said to be because Donald Glover was too busy.
Following the cancellation in March, Donald Glover took to social media to “leak” a 13-page “script” that essentially placed the blame on Marvel (not because he was too busy) for the cancellation of the Deadpool animated series.
Now FX CEO John Landgraf confirms it was Marvel that decided to not go forward with the series.
“No,” Landgraf replied when asked by Variety if there is any chance of reviving the Deadpool animated series with Donald Glover and Marvel.”They didn’t want to do the show that Donald and Stephen [Glover] wrote.”
Landgraf does confirm that FX would have aired the series.
“We would have done show that Donald and Stephen wrote, but it wasn’t our decision,” Landgraf said. “When Marvel decided not to do that show, we parted company with them as did Donald and Stephen. Now it’s totally up to them [Marvel] whether they hire someone else to do a different show.”
Marvel has never officially stated why they didn’t want to do the Deadpool animated series, but it’s thought Marvel (Disney) didn’t want an R-rated cartoon. Landgraf notes Marvel could always go with another form of the series as Marvel owns the TV and animated rights.
“I think that Marvel will revive it, because they have the rights,” Landgraf said. “They own the IP, and they have the rights to do an animated adult series based on any of the X-Men characters, and based on Deadpool specifically.”
For those wondering if the Marvel and Fox Studios merger had anything to do with the Deadpool cancellation, Fox Studios actually only had the rights to the movies, and in addition, this was back in March 2018 prior to the recent approval of the Disney and Fox deal, so it appears as if the Fox and Disney merger wasn’t a factor.
I’ll also add it could be Marvel TV and Animation under Ike Perlmutter that made the decision to cancel Glover’s Deadpool (as Marvel TV would develop any of the TV series and animation), as Marvel Studios is separate and run by Kevin Feige.
The good news is that regarding whether the live-action Ryan Reynolds Deadpool movies will now change their tone seems unlikely as Disney CEO Bob Iger did say there is room for R-rated comic book movies at the company: “It [Deadpool] clearly has been and will be Marvel branded. But we think there might be an opportunity for a Marvel-R brand for something like Deadpool,” Iger said. “As long as we let the audiences know what’s coming, we think we can manage that fine.”
Check out the leaked Deadpool animated test footage:
