Deadpool to get animated series

Ryan Reynolds portrayed the antihero on the big screen in last year's Deadpool.
Ryan Reynolds portrayed the antihero on the big screen in last year's Deadpool. PHOTO: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX

NEW YORK • Two of the most creatively fertile forces in entertainment - Marvel and Donald Glover - are teaming up, Avengers-style, to bring yet another superhero show to television.

Glover is producing an animated series featuring Marvel's Deadpool for FX, the cable network announced on Wednesday.

The 10-episode series, which is still untitled, will debut next year on FXX, the network's comedy- focused channel.

Deadpool, a profanely sardonic antihero, has been one of Marvel's most popular characters since his debut in 1991. As portrayed by Ryan Reynolds, the character crossed over into film with X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009.

Last year's gleefully vulgar Deadpool was a surprise hit, breaking box-office records for R-rated movies.

FX suggested that the series will be tonally similar, describing it as an "animated adult action-comedy".

The show joins a robust field of Marvel TV adaptations, including FX's Legion, as well as Netflix's Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Iron Fist and, coming soon, The Defenders.

The Deadpool series also expands the already considerable portfolio of Glover, whose Atlanta, also for FX, was arguably the most acclaimed new show of last year.

The multi-talented Glover, who raps as Childish Gambino, is also starring in upcoming films, including a role as young Lando Calrissian in the upcoming Star Wars Han Solo prequel.

He and his brother, Stephen, a writer on Atlanta, will serve as showrunners and writers on the Deadpool series.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 12, 2017, with the headline Deadpool to get animated series. Subscribe