The Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard is still attached to write and direct an X-Force adaptation for 20th Century Fox, despite the studio being acquired by The Walt Disney Company. In December 2017, the Mouse House began the process of fully acquiring 21st Century Fox’s movie and TV assets, which include the film rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four. While plans are already underway to eventually incorporate both superhero teams into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the films already in development at Fox will continue to move forward, including X-Force.

Kick-Ass 2 writer and director Jeff Wadlow was originally hired to pen the screenplay for an X-Force adaptation in 2013 – but he was replaced by Joe Carnahan in February 2017, who was subsequently replaced by Goddard in September 2017 – based on the superhero team of the same name created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld in 1991. For those that don’t know, X-Force is a revamped version of the New Mutants that takes on mutant enemies in a much more militaristic fashion than the X-Men. The team is typically led by Nathan Summers, aka Cable, who will be played by Josh Brolin in David Leitch’s Deadpool 2 this coming June, with the actor already scheduled to reprise his role in Fox’s X-Force film.

Discussing Film reports that Drew Goddard is still slated to write and direct X-Force for 20th Century Fox. Whether the upcoming superhero team-up movie takes place in Fox’s current X-Men universe, though, or if it will be retooled for the Marvel Cinematic Universe remains to be seen, but at least fans cast rest assured knowing the movie is still on track.

Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon X Force: Drew Goddard Still Attached to Write and Direct Despite Disney Deal
Goddard – who’s known for his work on shows such as Alias and LOST, as well as films such as Cloverfield, The Martian, and World War Z – already has a working relationship with Disney through Marvel TV. In addition to scripting one episode of Marvel’s The Defenders, Goddard created Marvel’s Daredevil for Netflix back in 2015 and continues to oversee production as an executive producer.

As for the team itself, comic book creator and 20th Century Fox consultant Mark Millar previously mentioned that the X-Force adaptation will include five characters, of which two are already confirmed: Brolin’s Cable and Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool. Given the current state of the X-Men, virtually any character – such as Warpath, Shatterstar, or Sunspot – can take the remaining three slots. We’ll just have to wait and find out who the other characters are when X-Force finally enters production.