Deadpool 2: don't hold your breath for that X-Men crossover

Bad news: the mutant team-up of your dreams won't be in the works any time soon

Anticipation for the Merc with a Mouth's return to screen slowly builds, as Deadpool rests easy at the top of the UK box office after its third weekend.

Such incredible success puts Ryan Reynolds' foul-mouthed hero in a particular place of privilege for his upcoming sequel. Studio 20th Century Fox will very likely be bursting open the doors of possibility for the Deadpool team, with many hoping that would result in the meta-hero's intermingling with the established X-Men universe.

However, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick told The Playlist any proposed X-Men team-ups won't likely be coming any time soon.

"Oh for sure, if you look at the Iron Man model they had two Iron Man [movies] before they had an Avengers, and if left up to us, I think that would be a very prudent path," Reese explained. "The second issue at hand is the X-Men universe timeline. The X-Men series is currently set in the 1980s, Deadpool is set three decades later in our present day."

"It’s a timeline that will eventually catch up I would imagine," Wernick said. "But [X-Men producer] Simon [Kingberg’s] more the keeper of that universe and maybe we’ll see more X-Men playing in Deadpool’s sandbox and probably Deadpool playing in their sandbox at some point."

"Deadpool’s now become a brand and franchise unto himself, independent of the X-Men and that’s great. And that gives the studio two franchises in one, but I think it is its own franchise, and you’ll see synergy between those two properties, but they’re two very distinct brands."

"I think we’ve established ourselves as a franchise now and as much as they trusted us to make this movie, I think they now trust us even more,” Wernick did tease about future possibilities. "So I think we’ll be able to sneak into the garage and pull out the Ferrari every once in a while and take it for a spin."

The pair also confirmed that the Cable tease featured in Deadpool's post-credits sequence will, indeed, come to fruition. "Yeah, we’re on that path," Wernick said. "We teased him in the coda, we’re sticking to those plans and are having a great time writing."

Wernick also elaborated on his and Reese's involvement in the upcoming X-Force movie, which will see Deadpool teamed up with several other X-Men characters from the comics universe. "We will have a hand in it," he stated.

"I think everything that Deadpool is involved in we will have a hand in and it’s a universe that Ryan [Reynolds] and us are very close to and very protective of, so I do think we would absolutely involved in that franchise as well. If it’s Deadpool related, I think you’ll see some of our fingerprints on that."