Drew Goddard, creator of the Netflix series Daredevil, is set to write and direct X-Force for 20th Century Fox with Deadpool as the lead character. X-Force will serve as a spinoff of Fox’s X-Men movie franchise.


Created in 1991, X-Force first appeared as a team composed of members of the New Mutants and trained by the time-traveling cyborg known as Cable. The mutant strike team’s purpose was to be more proactive than the X-Men when it came to combating threats. X-Force was later reimagined as a black ops team with a roster full of prominent X-Men characters, such as Wolverine, X-23, Deadpool, Colossus, Psylocke, Archangel, and of course, their original leader, Cable. The team was known for being far more ruthless and violent than the X-Men.

Deadline reports that the Academy Award-nominated writer Drew Goddard will serve both as writer and director of X-Force. Produced by Ryan Reynolds, Lauren Shuler, and Simon Kinberg, X-Force will center on a black ops team of “dirty mutant warriors that are far more ruthless than their X-Men counterparts.”


Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds in his third outing as the Merc with a Mouth, is described as the centerpiece of X-Force. The time-traveling cyborg, Cable, played by Josh Brolin in Deadpool 2, is also expected to be a “major component” in the film.


X-Force was reported to be in development as early as 2013, with Deadpool and Cable expected to play central roles in the movie. Jeff Wadlow was originally attached to direct, and Joe Carnahan was hired to write the film alongside Ryan Reynolds. Carnahan was also rumored to be directing X-Force.

It’s currently unclear what version of the roster fans can expect to see in X-Force, other than the inclusion of Deadpool and Cable. Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic), who appears in both Deadpool films, is a possible addition along with Psylocke (Olivia Munn) who was last seen in X-Men: Apocalypse.


In addition to writing Cloverfield, co-writing and directing The Cabin in the Woods, and developing Netflix’s Daredevil series, Goddard was brought on board for some script work on the recently wrapped Deadpool 2, so it’s no surprise to see him tasked with helming this project. Goddard is currently working on directing Fox’s Bad Times at the El Royale with Chris Hemsworth and Jeff Bridges, but is expected to begin work on X-Force as soon as the film is completed.