‘Deadpool 2’ Will Now Duke It Out With ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Solo’ in May

Following today’s report on Gore Verbinski’s exit from Channing Tatum’s Gambit movie, Fox is making some big moves — the most major of which is, unsurprisingly, with Deadpool 2. The studio has moved the sequel to 2016’s R-rated anti-superhero hit up to May, almost a whole month earlier than its June 1 release date.

The news comes from The Wrap, which reports that Fox is doing some pretty hefty release date shifts with its upcoming X-Men spinoffs. While we’ll get to see Deadpool 2 a few weeks earlier on May 18, the highly-anticipated sequel will now go head-to-head with Marvel heavyweight Avengers: Infinity War (which hits theaters two weeks earlier) and Lucasfilm and Disney’s Solo: A Star Wars Story (which arrives one week after). 

Given Disney’s recent acquisition of Fox, that move would lend credence to the thinking, based on the lack of a trailer four months out, that Solo will inevitably get pushed back to December — though director Ron Howard recently dismissed that assumption by assuring fans that Lucasfilm wanted to give The Last Jedi plenty of breathing room. Still, it’s an interesting shift, and a fairly sizable show of confidence in the sequel, which features Ryan Reynolds reprising his role as the Merc With a Mouth opposite newcomers Domino (Zazie Beetz) and Cable (Josh Brolin).

The film also features returning star T.J. Miller as Weasel — despite recent allegations of sexual misconduct against the comedian and actor, Fox has no plans to remove or replace Miller.