‘Deadpool’ Creator Rob Liefeld ‘Mourns the Loss’ of Donald Glover’s Series
Popular on Variety
At the premiere of Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp” Monday night, “Deadpool” creator Rob Liefeld expressed regret that the world would never get to see Donald Glover’s scrapped “Deadpool” series come to life.
Relieved that “I can talk about this now,” Liefeld praised Glover, sharing how “I thought the whole thing was brilliant. And I really can’t say anything more than that or I’ll get into all sorts of trouble from every side.”
He continued: “But I mean, I mourn the loss of that entire project. Donald is a genius, and I’ll always wonder how that would have worked out. But Marvel says: ‘Rob, good things are coming.’ And good things have always come, so I’m gonna believe them and hang on for dear life.”
Glover’s stab at the comic, which was announced last May with a 10-episode order at FXX, was to have been a joint effort from the “This Is America” singer and his brother, Stephen Glover. The two currently collaborate on FX series “Atlanta.”
Citing “creative differences” for the show’s halt, FX released this statement back in March: “Due to creative differences, FX, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover and Marvel Television have agreed to part ways on Marvel’s ‘Deadpool’ animated series. FX will no longer be involved with the project. FX and Marvel have an ongoing relationship through our partnership on ‘Legion,’ which will continue.”
Glover’s 15-page script of his “Deadpool” series, which was released via Twitter but has now been taken off the multi-hyphenate artist’s page, took pointed shots at Marvel, slamming racism in the television industry.
“For the record: i wasnt too busy to work on deadpool,” Glover wrote before posting photos of the script, which featured Deadpool speaking with a rhino and wondering aloud why Marvel decided not to move forward with the show. He asked if it could have been “cause of racism?!”
“All the writers were black,” he continued. “And the references were pretty black too. I heard they went over the lunch budget ordering Jamaican food at least once a week.”
“It just feels like everyone wants something different, but no one wants to do anything different to get it. Doesn’t Marvel have enough feel-good minority shows everyone supports but doesn’t watch? I mean, I think our show woulda been funny. I just wanted a place to be honest. And I guess that place is Freeform.”
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” hits theaters on July 6.
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