‘X-Men,’ ‘Gambit,’ and ‘Deadpool’ Will Exist in Same Universe, Says Producer
By Graeme McMillan
If the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past left audiences wondering whether time had been re-written to undo the deaths of Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Jean Grey et al. from earlier movies, franchise producer Simon Kinberg wants to make it clear: everything’s up for grabs in terms of X-Men history now.
“The idea is that we’ve sort of reset the timeline after Days of Future Past in some ways, and if not erased, certainly allowed for change from [the original X-Men movie], 2, 3, everything from Days of Future Past forward,” Kinberg told MTV about the future of the franchise following last year’s time-travel blockbuster. “Everything we set now becomes canon.”
Next year will be a big one for Fox’s mutant superheroes; in addition to X-Men: Apocalypse, the direct follow-up to Days of Future Past, the studio will also be releasing standalone features for both Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Gambit (with Channing Tatum in the title role). Both of these movies, Kinberg said, will be firmly set inside the new X-Men movie continuity.
“The Gambit movie, the Deadpool movie, will exist in a world that acknowledges whatever happened in Days of Future Past and moving forward,” he said, adding that “there will be interplay between different characters in different movies.”
“We have a clear sense of the directions we want to take [the characters] in,” he went on, “and in my mind at least, how we could start to cross-pollinate sort of with those characters that have their standalone movies.”
Deadpool will be released Feb. 12, 2016, followed by X-Men: Apocalypse on May 27.
Related: Lea Seydoux Circling X-Men Movie ‘Gambit’ Opposite Channing Tatum
