Rob Liefeld is more than just a titan of the comic book world, the man is a legend. As the creator of hundreds of iconic characters during his career with Marvel and the successful publishing house, Image Comics, his creations are in high demand. It’s a superhero world, and Rob Liefeld is the maniacal leader we always wanted.
Now, with Deadpool 2: The Super Duper Cut on its way to Blu-ray and a slew of projects in the works, we sat down with the controversial comic book creator to discuss his highly influential body of work and what’s coming up in Liefeld’s expansive universe.
More Deadpool 2 Action and That Bathhouse Scene
If you want more action courtesy of the Merc with a Mouth, then look no further because Deadpool 2: The Super Duper Cut Blu-ray releases next month. The “longer, actionier, spandexier” new Blu-ray has a whole host of extra scenes and special features.
“The great thing about Deadpool is that both movies are not bloated … so they had great stuff to put back in to begin with,” says Liefeld.
“The opening sequence where [Deadpool] is taking calls as a mercenary, and he breaks into the Japanese bar and is later in the bathhouse, those are really ridiculously long scenes.
“[The bathhouse scene] is such a great scene. You’re going to see a lot more action [in the Super Duper Cut] — if that’s your thing — but also the bathhouse scene, and more jokes,” Liefeld told FANDOM. “There are some great laughs in there … It’s violent, but you’re going to see some great stuff.”
More Deadpool 2 Easter Eggs
The upcoming Blu-ray will also include the long-rumored, never-before-seen character, Omega Red. “I don’t want to overhype it,” the comic book creator said, “but [Omega Red is] there.” But this classic character isn’t the only surprise in Deadpool 2: The Super Duper Cut.
“Ryan [Reynolds] kept saying repeatedly, ‘This movie is jam-packed with Easter eggs,’ and I thought, ‘Ok, that’s a big claim.’ And then when I saw it, there [was] way more than I thought. Verbal easter eggs, visual easter eggs, it’s packed.”
Cable Made Brolin Look Like the “Best Josh Ever”
There’s no denying that fans absolutely love Cable. Liefeld knew it, but Josh Brolin didn’t believe it until he saw it for himself. Brolin appeared at D23 to promote Thanos but still looked like Cable, as he still had some of the character’s tell-tale markers like the scar over his eye. The crowd loved it.
“He comes out to promote Thanos, and he looks like Cable,” Liefeld exclaims. “[Josh Brolin] told me, ‘Rob, this has a huge fan base.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, and you’re not purple, and you look like the best Josh ever!'”
Another One Bites the Dust
Unlike Cable, in Deadpool 2, many of Liefeld’s other beloved characters bite the dust in spectacularly violent ways — like getting thrown into helicopter blades. But, surprisingly, Liefeld wasn’t too concerned about losing them. “Here’s the deal: people love that [helicopter] scene,” confirms Liefeld. “[The filmmakers] knew what they were doing.
“When people tell me how much they love the movie, I say, ‘What’s your favorite part?'” Liefeld told FANDOM. He says they always respond, “‘The entire X-Force sequence, from beginning to end — from the assembling of them to the dismantling of them.'”
He goes on to explain that Deadpool 2 was about adding Cable and Domino to the universe and getting them right. If that meant that some characters had to die to make that happen, then so be it.
Rob Liefeld’s Extended Cinematic Universe
If you thought that Liefeld only had his hands in Deadpool, then you thought wrong. His characters Hawk and Dove are set to appear in DC’s upcoming live-action Titans series. And, according to him, they have an important role to play.
Liefeld is also working with Titans co-creator, Akiva Goldsman on an adaptation of his Extreme Universe project for Netflix. “It’s five films, and Netflix was like, ‘We wanna build them like Marvel built them,'” says Liefeld.
The films will focus on two brothers, essentially the Cain and Abel of this universe, who are the heads of different organizations who have guns aimed at each other. “It’s one of the fresh things that we can say nobody else has done in comics,” explains Liefeld.
The film series will explore a more real-world application of the manufacture of super beings. What would it look like if we could create any number of beings with whatever superpowers we wanted?
Fans might reasonably expect these films to begin with Prophet, but that series has already been optioned by Sony. “Prophet is going to be a kickass, big, huge, action-adventure, time-travel [movie].”
The Birth of Image Comics and the Death of Superman
“This culture wants the comic book stuff,” says the industry legend.
“In 2012, the president of Paramount told me that comic books were a fad and they’d be gone in three years. I was like, ‘No, people are turning on flame. They have knives coming out of their hands. You’re not going back to a guy with a gun in a skyscraper. That’s not happening again.’ Superpowers is the new thing.”
Thanks to Liefeld’s superpowers, one of the industry’s most iconic heroes had to sacrifice himself to keep his company afloat.
“Superman died because of Image Comics,” says Liefeld. “That is a historical fact.” According to Liefeld, he was able to take down the Man of Steel thanks to surpassing the sales of DC with only six comics.
“I wrote a screenplay about the formation of Image Comics. It’s kinda like The Social Network meets The Wolf of Wall Street. It’s about the birth of Image Comics and how we changed the industry … there’s a great story to tell there,” says Liefeld.
“If you think making Facebook was interesting, [this is] way better.” Hopefully, we’ll get to see Liefeld’s screenplay come to life soon.