Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld has revealed that a major Marvel villain was reportedly planned to lead the antagonists in Fox’s canceled X-Force movie.
20th Century Fox spent roughly six years, from 2013 to 2019, trying to develop an X-Force movie. The project originally began as plans for a “darker and grittier trilogy” from Kick-Ass 2 writer Jeff Wadlow. The plans later evolved following the success of Deadpool 2, which introduced its own version of the X-Force. Daredevil creator Drew Goddard eventually developed a new X-Force spin-off centered on Ryan Reynolds‘ Deadpool, Josh Brolin‘s Cable, and Zazie Beetz‘s Domino.
Goddard’s X-Force movie was ultimately canceled after Disney acquired 20th Century Fox. The cancellation also contributed to Deadpool 3, eventually released as Deadpool & Wolverine, being pushed back until 2024.
During an interview with The Direct at MultiCon 2026, Liefeld opened up about Fox’s canceled X-Force movie. Liefeld revealed that Josh Brolin was “really excited” about the project after signing a multi-picture deal to play Cable. Brolin was reportedly set to take on a second role in the movie as Stryfe, a longtime enemy of X-Force. Stryfe is closely connected to Cable in the comics and has ties to the mutant Apocalypse.
Liefeld said, “I think I think it’s safe to say, Josh [Brolin] was really excited, because he signed a multi-picture deal, and he was excited about the prospect of not only playing Cable, but longtime fans of X-Force know that he would have been portraying Stryfe as well.”
Cable, whose real name is Nathan Summers, is the son of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor, a clone of Jean Grey. Stryfe was created by the Askani Tribe in the future as a backup for Nathan. Apocalypse later took Stryfe and raised him to become his next host, but ultimately abandoned the plan after discovering that Stryfe was not a viable host.
Liefeld confirmed that Stryfe was “absolutely” planned to be the main villain in Fox’s canceled X-Force movie. The villain was set to appear in the version of X-Force that Fox was developing before Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, and Stryfe’s planned appearance was something that “would have been great.”
There were also discussions about introducing or teasing Stryfe in a post-credits scene for Deadpool 2. However, the idea of featuring Stryfe in the Deadpool 2 post-credits scene was scrapped.
“The X-Force movie that was going to be coming to screen that Fox had planned before Disney bought the Fox catalog; he was absolutely in that movie. Spoiler alert! It would have been great… There were, at one point, discussions about him being in an after-credits scene in Deadpool 2, but they struck that.”
“But no, Josh [Brolin] told me, ‘The opportunity to portray those two characters, the two sides of the coin, being the good and the evil, was something he was really excited about.’ But I mean, again, in respect to Josh, there’s a possibility he has moved way beyond.”
Following Avengers: Secret Wars, Marvel Studios is reportedly planning to bring X-Force into the MCU’s third saga with a new project. Whether this is the same film Ryan Reynolds has been working on as a potential replacement for Deadpool 4 remains unknown.
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