Fox May Replace 'Fantastic Four 2' with a 'Deadpool' Sequel Featuring Cable

There's no real need to beat a dead horse at this point; Fantastic Four did not go as 20th Century Fox planned. The box office was weak, the reviews were arguably the worst of any major studio release this year, and it's C.Y.A. time as everyone tries to steer clear of the fallout. One of the big problems left to resolve has to do with the sequel, which has already been pegged for June 9th 2017. That doesn't seem like a smart idea at this point, and now a rumor suggests Fox is ready to find a replacement, but in doing so they may be repeating an earlier mistake.

Take this with a grain of salt, but The Daily Superhero says Fox is looking to replace Fantastic Four 2 with a Deadpool sequel. This would largely be based on the stellar buzz the film received at Comic-Con and for the recent trailer. However, there's still the question of Deadpool being a hit given its R-rating and relatively obscure lead character.  Fox jumped the gun in planning too much too fast with Fantastic Four, and it's possible they'd be making the same mistake with Deadpool, assuming this story turns out to be accurate.  

There's some evidence suggesting Fox has already made up their mind as Birth.Movies.Death have sources claiming Cable could be a big part of a Deadpool follow-up. That comes on the heels of Deadpool director Tim Miller making a comment to Empire that Cable would be an obvious choice. In the comics, Cable is Nathan Summers, the son of Scott "Cyclops" Summers and Madelyne Pryor, a clone of Jean Grey. Returned from the future where he had been battling the immortal Apocalypse, Cable becomes a leader of the militaristic X-Force. He and Deadpool began as brutal enemies but eventually became reluctant friends, starring in the popular Cable & Deadpool series together for a time. An X-Force movie was mentioned as a possibility a couple of years ago, and Ryan Reynolds expressed a desire to have Deadpool be a part of it. 

If Deadpool performs at the box office they may go ahead with these plans independent of a Fantastic Four sequel, anyway. And considering Fox doesn't want to hand the Fantastic Four film rights back to Marvel chances are they'll keep trying until they find a formula that works.