Donald Glover slams FX and Marvel after cancellation of his animated ‘Deadpool’ series

When it was announced that a Donald Glover produced Deadpool animated series was going to air on FX, fans of the wise-cracking superhero went wild.  The series was supposed to have been a collaboration between Glover and his brother, Steven. However, this week, FX announced they would be cancelling the project, citing “creative differences” between the studio and Glover. A statement released by FX stated that the Glovers had agreed to part ways with the network as well as Marvel television.

An article published by Variety said the show “may have been a casualty of Donald Glover’s packed schedule.” Glover is currently an executive producer and actor on the hit FX show Atlanta as well as an artist who releases music under the name of Childish Gambino. Glover also stars in the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story, creating a hectic schedule attending press appearances for the premiere.

However, Glover took to Twitter yesterday, saying “For the record: I wasn’t too busy to work on Deadpool.” He went on to tweet fifteen pages of a script using the Deadpool character. Deadpool is known for being a superhero that addresses readers and moviegoers directly in his dialogue, and in the script, he speaks to the reader while thinking through the events of the series cancellation. In the script, Glover, via the character Deadpool, addresses the issue of diversity in the show runners and writers of the industry.

“Do you think they canceled the show … cause of racism?! … Yeah, but all the writers were black. And the references were pretty black too. … Maybe we were alienating our white audience? No. We did a whole goat yoga episode. Damn.” Later on in the script, Deadpool hits Marvel with a punching comment. “Doesn’t Marvel have enough feel-good minority shows everyone supports but doesn’t watch?”

It’s clear Glover penned this short script specifically in response to the cancellation of his series, and speaks volumes to his disapproval of the decision by FX and Marvel as a whole. The entirety of the script displays Glover’s talent in taking command of the widely loved character and adding his own creative flair.

While we won’t be seeing the Deadpool animated series anytime soon, there is potential for another network to pick it up, considering fans’ massive interest in the character. In the script, Glover writes that Freeform TV could possibly be a good fit for the series if they expressed interest in it. In the meantime, fans will still be able to get their fix with the release of Deadpool 2 on May 18.