Deadpool Spinoff X-Force Will be Written & Directed by Daredevil’s Drew Goodard

We haven’t yet met the X-Force, who will make their debut in the upcoming Deadpool 2, but Fox is busy preparing for their spinoff film. The studio has tapped Josh Goodard, who has been a hugely successful writer and director, and who recently has done such excellent work on Marvel’s Daredevil, to write and director the X-Force film, which will focus on the titular mutant warriors. The X-Force are like a superpowered Black Ops team, led by the clashing personalities of Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Cable (Josh Brolin), and including Domino (Zazie Beetz). Cable and Domino are making their first appearances in Deadpool 2. 

Goddard’s chops are no joke. He’s written for seminal small screen series  Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Alias, and made his bones writing for the big screen with Cloverfield, The Cabin in the Woods and World War Z. We interviewed him last year for his Oscar-nominated work writing The Martian, and he’s currently working on Fox’s Bad Times at the El Royale with Chris Hemsworth and Jeff Bridges, which he’s writing, directing and producing—the story behind the film has been kept tightly under wraps. 

Goddard is a great choice to launch the X-Force film, and his selection continues Fox’s push to create films that aren’t tied directly to their lucrative X-Men universe, but rather orbit around them, offering filmmakers an opportunity to take chances. Just look at James Mangold’s fantastic Logan for proof—and that was a film about the X-men’s most iconic character. Their slate currently includes David Leitch’s Deadpool 2, Simon Kinberg’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and Josh Boone’s New Mutants, which is being called a superhero horror film—which would be a first.