Deadpool 2 Director Found: Will Ryan Reynolds Replacing Tim Miller with David Leitch Hurt Box Office For 2nd Deadpool Movie?


Last month, Deadpool 2 Director Tim Miller left the project over creative differences with the film’s star and principal producer Ryan Reynolds. This came as a shock to many people, since the team of Reynolds and Miller had managed to produce the most innovative, hilarious and interesting comic book movie in a long time.

Just yesterday, the studio confirmed they had replaced Miller with John Wick director David Leitch, but can he and Reynolds duplicate the success of the first Deadpool?

Deadpool 2 Director Problems

Given how much fun Deadpool was for moviegoers, it comes as a bit of a surprise to find out that even in the original film, Miller and Reynolds didn’t necessarily always see eye to eye. In fact, the way Reynolds tells it at Collider, there was a lot of headbutting the first time around.

It’s easy to assume that – just because the result of making a film is awesome – the process of making it must have been awesome as well. But often this isn’t the case. Even aside from Deadpool, the problems between Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy on Mad Max Fury Road show that crew and cast members on a movie don’t even have to like each other for the resulting movie to be perfect.

Creative Differences on Deadpool 2

Director versus star problems are par for the course in Hollywood. At the same time, it might be hard to understand how Ryan Reynolds and Tim Miller – who despite differences were able to produce the first Deadpool – couldn’t do so a second time. It turns out, Miller wanted to switch things up a bit.

The original Deadpool was amazing, laced with off-color references and jokes, outrageous violence and a general spirit of fun derived directly from the comic book version of the character. But it turns out that Tim Miller in the follow-up movie wanted to take a very different approach, doing something darker and more epic with Deadpool 2.

If that sounds strange to you, it sounded equally strange to Ryan Reynolds. After all, trying to “serious up” Deadpool was the mistake the studio made with the character when they introduced him in the Wolverine films. The last thing Ryan Reynolds wanted was for his character’s mouth to be sewn shut again – either literally or metaphorically.

As reported by Cinemablend, Reynolds and Miller just had very different ideas for where the franchise should go. Reynolds, who championed the production of the first Deadpool, clearly feels that the character should stick to his comic book roots. And it’s hard to argue with success.

Ryan Renyolds wanted new Deadpool 2 director. [Image by Fox Studies]

The New Deadpool 2 Director

While both Ryan Reynolds and Tim Miller were integral parts of the creation of the Deadpool movie, the truth is that Ryan Reynolds – serving as producer and star – was the principal reason the film got made in the first place. So replacing Tim Miller in the sequel might not have as much of an impact as some people fear.

The key to replacing Miller was to find a director who could fit perfectly into the kind of film that Deadpool is supposed to be. With David Leitch, they may have found exactly the person they’re looking for.

Leitch directed the surprise runaway hit John Wick – starring Keanu Reeves – and his directing style and storytelling will probably make a good match for Deadpool 2. Like Deadpool, John Wick featured lots of gunbattles and elaborately choreographed fight scenes.

While John Wick didn’t have a lot of humor – at least not the kind of raunchy humor Deadpool did – it’s safe to assume that star Ryan Reynolds and the writers of Deadpool – who are returning for the second film – will be able to make up for anything their new Deadpool 2 director lacks in this area.

[Featured Image by Fox Studios]

Share this article: Deadpool 2 Director Found: Will Ryan Reynolds Replacing Tim Miller with David Leitch Hurt Box Office For 2nd Deadpool Movie?
More from Inquisitr