Bryan Singer On The Possibility Of A 'Deadpool' / 'X-Men' Crossover

The early reviews for X-Men: Apocalypse aren't so hot, but earlier this year we got another film set in the X-Men universe that fared much, much better. Deadpool somersaulted above all expectations, earning critical raves and smashing box office records. So what are the odds that the mutant heroes might hook up with the franchise's newest superstar? Director Bryan Singer isn't ruling it out — but cautions that a Deadpool X-Men crossover would have to be done "carefully" and "delicately." 

Singer addressed the possibility of a Deadpool X-Men crossover in a conversation with Variety.

If you take a character as irreverent and meta as Deadpool and connect him to something as grounded and serious as X-Men, you have to do it carefully and gently. When you drop them all in together it can be a disaster. That has to be done delicately, but there's plenty of room to do it.

Deadpool makes explicit reference to the X-Men — the Merc teams up with Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and even swings by the X-Mansion at one point — so it's established that he not only exists alongside the X-Men, but is very much aware of them. As Singer points out, though, Deadpool's "irreverent and meta" tone makes him a tricky fit for the core X-Men films, which tend to be more somber.

A better way to integrate him into the larger X-Men universe might be X-Force, which has been in on-again, off-again development for years. Deadpool has been a part of the team in the comics, alongside characters like Colossus, Psylocke, and Cable, and their adventures tend to be a little more twisted, and therefore more in line with Deadpool's R-rated sensibility.

Whether Singer will be the one to make a Deadpool X-Men crossover happen, though, is another question. We've heard conflicting reports about whether or not Singer plans to return to direct more X-Men, and it seems he hasn't made up his mind quite yet:

When you spend nearly two decades in a universe, to simply say, 'I'm done,' or, 'I'm going to abandon it,' just wouldn't make sense to me. I'm very connected to this universe and a lot of these actors, and also the characters, whomever plays them. So never say never.

Until then, X-Men: Apocalypse lands in theaters May 27.