Donald Glover clearly has some qualms about the dissolution of the Deadpool animated series he and his brother were supposed to make for FX. On Saturday, it was announced that the project would no longer be moving forward “due to creative differences,” Hollywoods favorite catch-all phrase. But the story doesnt end there. On Tuesday, Glover issued a rare tweet that prompts more questions than it answers: “for the record: i wasnt too busy to work on deadpool.” Then, the typically social media-averse star posted every page of the shows finale script to prove it.
Upon closer inspection, though, this appears not to be an actual script—but a mock draft written in the last few days, full of topical jokes and parting shots at Marvel.
In the faux script, Deadpool is on a mission in Kenya to protect the last male northern white rhino, Sudan, from poachers. (Sudan is the name of a real rhino who died just a few days ago.) Theres a topical joke about Deadpool scrolling through his phone and finding out that someone bit Beyoncé. (That story is courtesy of Tiffany Haddish, who told GQ that she saw The Bite at one of Beyoncé and __Jay-Zs parties.) Deadpool also makes a sad joke about the people “reading” the show, instead of watching it, as planned. Then, as is the characters custom, he starts breaking down the fourth wall.
“You know, Im not made about this whole cancelled thing,” Deadpool says at one point. “I actually think its a good thing. I mean, is it even a good time to have a violent, gun loving white man ranting on TV. Other than the PRESIDENT!”
The script continues with Deadpool musing about why the show could never work, thanks to the Marvel and FX partnership. “I mean, I get it,” Deadpool says. “Maybe they just wanna sell toys. And this style of comedy isnt it. Its more ha-ha, but Im mad. I get that.” Later, he twists the knife further: “All I said was Marvel was trying to sell toys to seven year old boys and fifty year old pedophiles,” Deadpool says. “Thats just funny. Theyre cool. They get it.”
“It just feels like everyone wants something different, but no one wants to do anything different to get it,” Deadpool continues. “Doesnt Marvel have enough feel-good minority shows everyone supports but doesnt watch? I mean I think our show woulda been funny. I just wanted a place to be honest.”
The character muses about other reasons the show might have been cancelled: “Racism?” he wonders. “All the writers were black. And the references were pretty black too. I heard they went over the lunch budget ordering Jamaican food at least once a week . . . maybe we were alienating our white audience?”
When the project was initially scuppered, FX released this statement, via the Hollywood Reporter: “Due to creative differences, FX, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover and Marvel Television have agreed to part ways on Marvels Deadpool animated series. FX will no longer be involved with the project.”
On the surface, it seemed an amicable split, though a surprising one considering Glovers current cachet at FX and Hollywood at large—as well as excitement around the project, which was just different enough to separate it from the current glut of superhero content. But Glover has also built a reputation as an outsider auteur with a singular vision, which didnt seem to mesh with Marvels famously controlling point of view. Yet stranger still, the Deadpool project isnt Glovers first time working with the powerful studio. He appeared in last years Spider-Man: Homecoming, in a role that was rumored to get bigger in the upcoming sequel; hes also taken several other key roles in Disney properties, starring in the studios upcoming live-action Lion King remake and Solo: A Star Wars Story, out in May. Which means that his corporate family dinners may have just gotten a lot more awkward. Representatives for FX have not yet responded to *Vanity Fairs request for comment.
Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Full ScreenPhotos:See Lena Waithes Vanity Fair Cover ShootYohana DestaYohana Desta is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.
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