We recently came across a report suggesting that 20th Century Fox is thinking about signing John Wick director David Leitch for Deadpool 2, following Tim Miller's departure from the project. While it was made clear that no official deal had been made, it was also mentioned that the stuntman-turned-director was the clear frontrunner for the job.
Now Deadline, the outlet that broke the news of Miller's exit, has come up with a new report confirming that Leitch is indeed in the "pole position" to helm Deadpool 2. But they suggest that Fox is still meeting with directors pitching their vision. And they have also dropped the names of two other potential candidates for calling the shots in the sequel.
One of them is The Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard. He is also known for penning the script for The Martian (for which he bagged an Academy Award nomination) as well as for World War Z and Cloverfield.
Goddard is also credited as the creator of the Netflix series Marvel's Daredevil. And he was announced as the writer and director of a Sinister Six spin-off movie before the historic deal between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios on Spider-Man's fate in live-action movies took place.
The other contender for the Deadpool 2 director's chair is Magnus Martens, who is known for directing episodes of television shows, as well as the Norwegian flick Jackpot. Among the shows for which Martens has directed episodes the most notable are Marvel's Luke Cage, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Banshee, 12 Monkeys, and Power.
One thing that the three candidates have in common with Miller is that none is vastly experienced when it comes to directing feature films. So it seems unlikely that Fox would hire a heavyweight director for Deadpool 2 like Quentin Tarantino, whose name was put forward in a fan’s petition at Change.org.
Magnus Martens and Drew Goddard – two potential directors for Deadpool 2 (Photo Credit – Østlands-Posten and Alchetron)
