It is no secret that Rob Liefeld, the creator of a host of iconic comic characters, the most famous being Deadpool, is unhappy with the way Disney is handling the character after buying him from Sony. Liefeld has made it clear that he does not believe the Mouse Empire has any plans for the Merc with the Mouth since he does not fit into their PG13-sensibilities. Now, the artist has taken things a step further by sharing a piece of fan art on his Instagram story depicting Deadpool holding a lifeless corpse of Mickey Mouse with a bullet hole in its temple.
Hardly the most subtle imagery, but apparently a good approximation of how Rob Liefeld, and by extension, Deadpool, feels about being in control of Disney. The picture is only the latest in a long list of public grievances that Liefeld had shared over the past few months regarding the status of Deadpool’s movie adaptations. It started with him saying that Marvel has currently ‘zero’ plans to make Deadpool 3.
“I feel like Deadpool, the movies, they’ve set sail. We got two brilliant movies, and we live in a culture that always looks forward because all they’re ever selling us is ‘next, next, next.’ It’s the fever. For me, as the fever calms down, people just need to calm down and realize that Deadpool 1 and 2 were released within two years of each other, 2016 and 2018, and I just can’t… I’m not really that crazy about Marvel’s plan right now.”
“If Ryan isn’t making Deadpool 3 right now, that’s because Marvel hasn’t allowed it to be yet and that’s all I’m saying. So, do I have a lot of faith in that system? Dude, I have no idea. So this is where I’m not that, I’m not giving you the answers you want. I’m like yeah, yeah. Look if it happens, terrific.”
Liefeld came under a storm of criticism from MCU fans, so much so that he had to clarify his statement with a subsequent interview, in which he reiterated his earlier stand that Marvel studios had no plans for introducing Deadpool into the MCU any time soon.
“Do I know that there is no movement on a Deadpool 3 right now? I know that. Yes. And does that worry me? No. Not at all. What I did was I answered a question honestly. And what I learned this week is just lie. Just tell people everything is lollipop and unicorns and rainbows and you’ll be better off in your life because people want to be lied to. Just because some guy goes, ‘Yeah, We’re still moving along’ that’s code for ‘There’s nothing to see here.'”
Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds has been more cautiously optimistic about Deadpool’s return to the big screen, stating that the possibilities for the character are endless now that they get to play in the much large MCU sandbox. Liefeld’s latest jab is unlikely to go down well with Disney, but it seems the comics legend is past caring at this point. The art original appeared on Rob Liefeld’s Instagram account.