Roughly two weeks ago, Deadpool took movie theaters by storm, breaking all kinds of February box office records and (re-)introducing eagerly awaiting fans and moviegoers to anti-hero Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds). With his first adventure still raking in the dough, fans and the studio set their sights on the continuing adventures of the Merc with a Mouth. And no sooner than Deadpool 2 was reported to be moving forward, speculation ran wild as to whether frequent collaborator and X-Force cohort Cable would team up with Wilson for the sequel.

As teased in the post-credit sequence, Scott Summer’s time-traveling son will definitely sign on for the Deadpool sequel. In addition, screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are adamant about keeping the second film in Deadpool’s gritty world. But the real question is, which joint story arc will they pull from?

Speaking with Cinema Blend, the Deadpool writers gave fans a better feel for their influences in the Deadpool. Rather than choosing specific elements from the comic books, they worked with a sort of grab bag of their favorite elements in penning the script. Paul Wernick provides the origins of their own origin story:

If anything, the Deadpool movie took many of its cues from Wade Wilson’s backstory – first written by Ed McGunness and Joe Kelly as part of the Merc’s inaugural solo run. The film also plucked other aspects from the first story arc, such as Blind Al and Weasel, but altered some elements for the sake of simplicity – such as deemphasizing his paramour Vanessa’s potential shapeshifting abilities (in the comics, she was originally Copycat) and merging Dr. Killebrew with Ajax. From their successful adaption, it only stands to reason that the writers will follow a similar course of action when drafting Deadpool’s second round.

“We dove into all of the runs, and then, you know, fell in love with the character and the tone and the texture. Then we set down the comics and came up with our own storyline, and I think we’ll do the same for the second one.”

The obvious choice for a film featuring both Wilson and Nathan Summers would be the eponymous Cable & Deadpool comic book series, which ran from 2004-2008. Of course, some characters and storylines from the team-up series are an obvious no-go, such as any arc containing Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D., Taskmaster or other Disney-owned Marvel properties. However, there are still plenty of heroes and villains, as well as great fourth-wall shattering moments from Cable & Deadpool which could establish Cable and set up his cantankerous relationship with Wilson.

The first story arc, “If Looks Could Kill”, successfully brings together the dysfunctionally dynamic duo, but features a silly storyline with a blue-coloring virus. However, the “Born Again” series offers valuable insight into Apocalypse and Cable’s shared history, and cribbing elements from it could offer an excellent tie-in, or at least an Easter egg, to the X-Men movies. The writers could also draw on inter-Deadpool-Cable conflict from “Six Packs and Powder Kegs” – when Deadpool teams up with the Six Pack to disrupt Cable’s peacemaking efforts – as a minor plot point and an intro to the rowdy collective of mercenaries (who ought to have their own solo flick). The writers could also mine some untapped character gold from “Unfinished Business” or “Alone Again, Naturally,” and break out self-consciously obese Agency-X boss, Agent X or include more great moments with Bob, Agent of…can FOX even use HYDRA?

In the end, the final decision and script will come down to Reese and Wernick’s concept and FOX. But the writers and the studio would be foolish not to entwine elements in the film. Deadpool 2 could easily set up an X-Force movie, pull in fun villains like T-Ray, and prep possible further crossovers between the X-Men, New Mutants, Cable, and Deadpool’s own ribald corner of the Marvel multiverse.

Deadpool is now in theaters. X-Men: Apocalypse will hit theaters on May 27, 2016; Gambit sometime in 2017; Wolverine 3 on March 3, 2017; and an unannounced X-Men film on July 13, 2018. The New Mutants and Deadpool 2 are also in development.

Source: Cinema Blend