Sad news for anyone anticipating the animated ‘Deadpool’ series on FX as it appears that Donald Glover and FX are dropping the series. In a statement released this past Saturday, FX said:
“Due to creative differences, FX, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover and Marvel Television have agreed to part ways on Marvel’s Deadpool animated series. FX will no longer be involved with the project. FX and Marvel have an ongoing relationship through our partnership on Legion, which will continue.”
There was a lot of buzz about this series when it was first announced, with the idea being that it would have the animation style of ‘Archer,’ with Donald Glover and his brother, Stephen Glover (the creative forces behind the hit ‘Atlanta’ series) pulling writing duties, with Jeph Loeb of Marvel Television serving as Executive Producer. It seemed like a lot of powerful wheels in motion that would most likely churn out an excellent show, which is probably why FX picked up the series right away with a 10-episode order last May, but alas, it simply was not meant to be.
There are a few rumors about what could have happened, the most likely being that with the FOX-Disney merger pending there is a chance that Disney may want a series like this to go straight to their online-streaming service (though that seems UNLIKELY as this series would have to be R-Rated and I cannot see Disney putting content like that on their family friendly service), but the more likely rumor has to do with Donald Glover’s schedule. The man is busy, between his musical career as Childish Gambino (even though he is expected to retire that persona soon), his film career (with ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ about to premiere in May, and ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ coming out just last summer, not to mention his new role as Simba in the live-action ‘Lion King), plus his own show ‘Atlanta’ that he writes and stars in.
Regardless of the reasons, here is hoping the idea is not completely dead, as an animated ‘Deadpool’ series has a lot of promise, and in the right hands, could be a real winner for whatever network puts it on the air. Were you looking forward to this show? Or do you think the ‘Deadpool’ train is starting to run out of steam? Share your thoughts in the comments below!