deadpool 2

Anyone who ever scrolls through the occasional Business Insider article knows that disruptors  —  companies that enter a marketplace and change the way people do business  —  don’t stay disruptors for very long. Take an organization like Uber. For years, Uber was the scrappy little underdog, a technology startup that used technology to upend the established taxi market. In the past few years, however, Uber has gone from the underdog to the dominant player, the company that other technology startups are looking to take down. Success breeds imitation, and imitation breeds improvement.

Well, that certainly took a pleasantly unexpected turn. Just days after the writers of Deadpool assured fans that we’d know who’s playing Cable in the sequel “very soon” comes a very interesting update. Michael Shannon is the latest frontrunner for the role of the comic-book character making his highly-anticipated debut in Deadpool 2. Although there are still a few other names on the studio’s shortlist, everyone’s favorite weirdo is the current favorite — because obviously.

Casting for Deadpool 2 is well underway, and with Atlanta star Zazie Beetz recently signing on to play Domino, one of two major roles has now been filled. And while Cable isn’t the only other new character joining the Merc With the Mouth for his upcoming sequel, he is arguably the most important piece of the casting puzzle given the larger role he’ll be playing in this corner of the mutant universe. According to the film’s writers, we’ll learn who’s playing Cable (as well as a few other “obscure” mutant characters) in Deadpool 2 “very soon.”

With the success of both Deadpool and Logan, 20th Century Fox has found a way to effectively differentiate itself from the other members of the superhero studio trifecta. Disney releases superhero films with broad appeal and a bright aesthetic; 20th Century Fox aims for more mature themes and isn’t afraid to incorporate both violence and profanity into its projects; Warner Bros…. well, they’re working on this, and when they figure out, it’s gonna be yuuuge. You’ll see.

Deadpool 2 is officially starting production this year, and after a rocky start that involved a director’s exit and some script finagling, finally the movie seems to be back on track. We know that Cable will be in this one (though we still don’t know for sure who’s playing him), and rumors abounded earlier this year that Fox was casting around for an actress to play Domino. Today, we finally know that, yes, Domino will be in the movie, and Atlanta star Zazie Beetz will play her.

Keeping the series of films featuring or tangentially related to the X-Men straight has become a task on par with reading Bleak House. The original three films from the 2000s were their own thing, at first independent of the rebooted X-Men: First Class set in the past. But they were then woven into the “present” with Days of Future Past and Apocalypse, which happen to be set in both timelines and physical dimensions. All this operates separately from Logan and Wolverine’s other solo films, and while Deadpool technically is set in the main universe, it can’t really bring in any of the major pre-existing characters due to intellectual property complications, so it might as well be an isolated entity as well. It’s a lot to keep track of, to put it mildly.

Isn’t it just like Ryan Reynolds to upstage a colleague? After listening to critics sing the praises of Logan for the past few weeks, fans around the country took their seats on Friday night ready to watch Hugh Jackman strap on his metal claws one last time. And so it came as quite a surprise when the first superhero to appear onscreen wasn’t Wolverine but Deadpool, everyone’s favorite violent and profane superhero — and, if we’re being honest with each other, the entire reason an R-rated Wolverine movie was greenlit by 20th Century Fox.

While there’s no official release date yet (although it’s rumored to hit in 2018), Deadpool 2 is gearing up to start filming pretty soon. We don’t know much about the plot or any new characters other than the fact that Cable is going to be in it, which is something we’ve known since the first Deadpool movie teased it after the credits. But as to who’s playing Cable, it’s anyone’s guess at this point as the movie is only just starting to round out their cast. A few days ago, Deadpool’s creator Rob Liefeld wanted Russell Crowe to play the part, which was probably just a bit of industry fancasting. But now we know that one of the names on the list of possibilities is none other than Stranger Things’ David Harbour.

A couple weeks back, 20th Century Fox released the final runtime for Logan — and it was a few minutes longer than the version that screened for press and industry folks, leading many to speculate that there was a post-credits scene attached. Given previous rumors that Ryan Reynolds had filmed a Deadpool scene for the Wolverine sequel, it was reasonable to suspect that perhaps Logan had a teaser for Deadpool 2 attached at the end. James Mangold denied these rumors, on all counts, but we now know exactly what is attached to Logan, and it both isn’t and is what you think. Spoilers ahead!

Casting rumors come in two major flavors. On the one hand, you have concrete news about actors meeting with executives and filmmakers to discuss their participation in upcoming productions. On the other hand, you have the echo chamber of social media, where casting rumors can materialize out of thin air and then be given credibility during an interview or social media exchange with an actor. Not all fan rumors end up at the first stage, but it is true that some social media rumors have actually ended up with the actor being offered the role.