While fans worry about the actual rating of the recently announced "Deadpool" movie, another aspect of this Marvel Comics adaptation that's being actively discussed is how or if it will tie into 20th Century Fox's "X-Men" franchise. According to writer and producer Simon Kinberg, "Deadpool" is definitely part of the overall plan.

Ryan Reynolds, who first debuted as Deadpool in the "X-Men" spin-off "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," will be back to reprise the Merc with the Mouth. And while early reports claimed that the screenplay was going Meta, with off-color jokes about Deadpool's appearance in that film, that may no longer be the case.

Simon Kinberg gives a vague overview of how Deadpool will ultimately fit into the X-Men cinematic universe.


"There's definitely a sort of overall plan that we've all been talking about for the X-Men universe now, and Deadpool obviously fits into that. So yeah, I guess I would say it's part of certainly an overall timeline and thought process that goes into these films, some of which is inspired by the comics and some which is inspired by seeing what Marvel's done with telling a larger tapestry and linking all those movies together, even as they stand independently as well. The same kind of thought is going to go into these X-Men movies at Fox."

This raises an obvious question: Will Deadpool make an appearance in "X-Men: Apocalypse?" Or will the 80s timeline not allow for that? Seeing as how "X-Men: Days of Future Past" altered the timeline of the franchise, its currently unclear where Deadpool fits in.

Deadpool comes to theaters February 12th, 2016.