It’s Not Too Late To Recast T.J. Miller in Deadpool 2

Fox’s Deadpool 2 should recast and replace T.J. Miller as Weasel in the wake of sexual assault allegations made against the actor. Ever since The New York Times published a piece exposing decades worth of sexual misconduct accusations against producer Harvey Weinstein, the landscape of such allegations surfacing in Hollywood has changed. We’re in an unprecedented moment where victims of sexual harassment and assault feel more comfortable coming forward than ever before. Whereas powerful men in the industry would have been able to shake off these kinds of allegations after a certain amount of time even just a year ago, those who have faced accusations since Weinstein are additionally facing career consequences.

Weinstein was fired from The Weinstein Company, the production company he co-founded, in addition to being expelled from organizations like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Louis C.K.’s film I Love You, Daddy was dropped by its distributor and he was removed from a number of projects after he admitted to exposing himself to multiple women. In one of the more high-profile instances, Kevin Spacey was removed from All the Money in the World by director Ridley Scott after the actor was accused of sexually assaulting 14-year-old Anthony Rapp when Spacey was 26.

In recent weeks, Deadpool actor T.J. Miller was accused of sexual assault, which he and his wife, Kate, denied in a joint statement. Shortly after the accusations were made public, Comedy Central cancelled Miller’s puppet talk show series The Gorburger Show – though a representative for the network later said it had nothing to do with the allegations. In terms of whether the actor would be removed from the 20th Century Fox X-Men universe sequel, though, producer Lauren Shuler Donner revealed Miller won’t be recast for Deadpool 2.

Donner did leave the door open for Fox, or new studio Disney (which acquired a number of 21st Century Fox assets late last year, including the company’s film studio), to potentially write out or recast Miller’s Weasel in future Deadpool movies. But, it’s not too late to recast T.J. Miller in Deadpool 2.

When Donner was asked about recasting Miller for Deadpool 2, she mentioned director David Leitch is in the final stages of editing the film as the reason the actor wouldn’t be recast. As of now, it’s unclear just how big Weasel’s role is in the sequel, which has a script penned by Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, as well as Drew Goddard (Daredevil). Miller said there will be more Weasel in the Deadpool sequel, and teased the character had a storyline with Wade Wilson’s fellow friend Dopinder in early scripts for the film. However, Miller was unclear if the Weasel and Dopinder storyline would be in Deadpool 2, or if it would be cut.

All that’s to say, we don’t know how much of Deadpool 2 would need to be changed in order to replace Miller. And, considering the nature of the Merc with the Mouth, a scene or line would need to be added to poke fun of or add a meta reference to the change. Deadpool is the king of breaking the fourth wall, after all. Given those changes, the film would likely need to go back for reshoots, but Deadpool 2 wrapped in October of last year and additional filming would require additional money. Since the movie is the final stages of editing, it would be costly to replace Miller in Deadpool 2.

Costly and inconvenient reshoots aren’t exactly unheard of in Hollywood, though, especially when studios are dedicated to releasing a movie with the most potential for success. With that said, Fox is in a strange situation. Since Disney is in the process of acquiring 20th Century Fox – and the exact particulars of their deal are unknown – replacing Miller in Deadpool 2 is made more complicated. The nature of the acquisition, which could lead to thousands of layoffs at Fox, may prevent the studio from granting Deadpool 2 the extra budget that would allow the film to recast and replace Miller.

Plus, now that Fox has moved the Deadpool 2 release date forward two weeks, the film has even less time to potentially pull off the replacement. But, is it truly too late to replace Miller as Weasel?

IS THERE TIME TO RECAST MILLER?

When Fox announced Deadpool 2’s new release date, the studio also pushed its New Mutants movie back 10 months. A further report revealed the lengthy delay was to make The New Mutants scarier, taking a cue from the success of horror movies in 2017. While it’s unclear how extensive the changes will be to The New Mutants, Fox has given the film a great deal of time to make those alterations – almost an entire year in fact. It’s possible this lengthy delay is the result of The New Mutants needing a significant overhaul, which will need longer to do with reshoots, editing, and adding CGI effects to bring the abilities of its titular team to life on screen.

So what does that mean for Deadpool 2? It’s possible this timeline indicates there isn’t enough time for Deadpool 2 to recast and replace Miller – or even remove Weasel’s storyline – without significantly diminishing the film. If Weasel is integral to the story of Deadpool 2 and cannot be removed, the studio would need to recast and replace the character to remove Miller from the project. However, if his scenes require a great deal of time to film, reshoots may take too long – not to mention the studio would need to recast, then finalize the footage in post-production (adding any necessary CGI, completing the score, etc).

With that said, viewers know extensive changes can be made to high profile films in time for their release dates. Ridley Scott reshot All the Money in the World over the course of a week just one month before the film’s scheduled premiere date, though it reportedly cost $10 million to do so. Plus, unrelated to sexual misconduct allegations, Lucasfilm and Ron Howard conducted extensive reshoots for Solo: A Star Wars Story after the studio parted ways with original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller. So, a studio certainly can achieve massive changes to movies if they’re deemed important enough.

And, frankly, considering Scott went to such lengths to replace Spacey in All the Money in the World with a much more pressing release date, it looks bad that Fox won’t do the same with Miller in Deadpool 2. As of this writing, there are four months until Deadpool 2’s new release date. Despite concerns regarding budget and filming on a production as big as Deadpool 2, the studio, director David Leitch, and star Ryan Reynolds could come up with a way to replace Miller if it were important enough – and make no mistake, it should be important to them. In fact, perhaps the easiest aspect of replacing Miller as Weasel would be recasting.

WHO COULD PLAY WEASEL?

Christopher Plummer. Honestly, it would be well within the humor of Deadpool to bring in Plummer, who replaced Spacey in Scott’s All the Money in the World, and have the sequel reference the larger movement of expelling those accused of sexual harassment and assault from Hollywood – in a funny way, of course. Plummer would be a humorous addition, especially considering what we know of Weasel’s character from Deadpool, and would provide ample opportunity for a Deadpool joke that breaks the fourth wall. Of course, this is assuming Plummer is interested in the role at all.

Truly, there are a number of options for who could replace Miller as Weasel. Reynolds could call in a favor with a friend, or Leitch might already have an idea. Scott, for his part, covertly looked for a replacement for Spacey in All the Money in the World with the help of Patty Jenkins, director of Wonder Woman, using her upcoming project as a cover. Or, if another actor was in the running for Weasel prior to Miller being hired on Deadpool, the sequel could see if they’re available.

With that said, thanks to the nature of Deadpool’s humor, the sequel could undoubtedly fit a new actor in with much ease. While it would be a matter of finding someone who fits the role, there are a number of comedians who would no doubt jump at the chance to join the massive X-Men franchise, and especially the sequel to one of 2016’s biggest hits. So, it’s unlikely Fox would have a difficult time filling Miller’s role, even if whatever replacement they could find wouldn’t necessarily deliver the exact same performance.

All told, it’s unclear why exactly Fox hasn’t taken the steps to recast Miller as Weasel in Deadpool 2 – though some might argue Miller’s career hasn’t been affected in the same way as other men in Hollywood accused of sexual harassment and/or assault. In fact, Deadpool 2 producer Lauren Shuler Donner’s comment on Fox having no plans to replace the actor is all we’ve heard about the matter with regard to this film. (There hasn’t been any comment regarding Miller’s role in Ready Player One, Steven Spielberg’s upcoming sci-fi action/adventure film that opens in March.) But, it’s still unclear why Fox isn’t looking to recast Miller.

Certainly, Scott’s All the Money in the World reshoots are unprecedented, but thanks to the allegations that have so far surfaced concerning predators in Hollywood, we’re in an unprecedented moment in history. With allegations continuing to surface against members of Hollywood, and potentially real change happening in the industry, Fox and Deadpool 2 have a chance to be on the right side of history. And, since there are four months left until the film’s May release, it’s not too late to recast Miller in Deadpool 2.