'Kitty Pryde' Movie In Development At Fox By 'Deadpool' Director Tim Miller
Even though 20th Century Fox is being bought by The Walt Disney Company, that's apparently not stopping the studio from continuing to develop their comic book movie slate.
A new report has emerged saying Deadpool director Tim Miller is currently developing a movie that would focus on X-Men teammate Kitty Pryde, also known as Shadowcat, a character with the ability to phase or quantum tunnel herself and others through solid objects.
News of the Kitty Pryde movie comes from Collider, who cites multiple unnamed sources for the story. As of now, Miller is only developing the project, but there's a chance he could end up directing. However, this feels like the kind of property that might be nice to have a female director helm.
You might remember Ellen Page playing Kitty Pryde in X-Men: The Last Stand, though she was woefully underutilized, especially for a character who has led the X-Men in certain comic book arcs and has quite a sizeable fanbase. She returned in X-Men: Days of Future Past, but again, her character's prominence in the comic book storyline as the savior of the X-Men was sidelined in favor of sending Wolverine back in time to change the past.
At one time, Kitty Pryde was among the characters being considered for solo movie duty when 20th Century Fox was looking at spin-offs to follow X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The Juno writing and directing team of Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman was even asked to take a crack at the movie since they worked so well with Ellen Page on the Oscar-winning film. But that obviously never came to fruition.
Will This Movie Ever Get Made?
News of a Kitty Pryde movie developing at this point in time seems odd when the future of the X-Men and Deadpool universe at 20th Century Fox is quite uncertain. While we don't have any word on official plans that Disney would have for Marvel Studios to inherit and overhaul the Marvel comic book movie franchises that 20th Century Fox has been controlling for years now, it has been assumed that X-Men, Deadpool and Fantastic Four would all become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe somehow. But since the effects of the deal are up in the air, Fox is probably just carrying on with whatever they were planning on doing before.
It should be noted that simply because this film is in development doesn't mean it will move forward. There are always movies in the works in Hollywood that become nothing more than ideas. This could easily be one of them, especially since Marvel's Kevin Feige has already expressed his desire to bring the X-Men into the MCU. But then again, perhaps Tim Miller is developing this movie with an eye towards somehow fitting it into the MCU already. Of course, that brings us back to the fact that there's no guarantee this movie moves forward, even if it seamlessly fits into the MCU, so we're back at square one.
What's exciting about a Kitty Pryde movie is that there are tons of story avenues left unexplored for the character. There's one arc which has her befriending members of the New Mutants, which would tie right into the release of their movie later this year. Another time, the X-Men and Fantastic four fought each other while Doctor Doom (of all people) tried to save her. Kitty Pryde even has a history with the Guardians of the Galaxy – she once married Peter Quill and donned the title of Star-Lord while he had to tend to some intergalactic business.
Of course, we're not going to hold our breath for this movie to come to fruition anytime soon. With the Fox purchase of Disney in the works, any plans the studio has for the future of their comic book titles are not necessarily on solid ground. 20th Century Fox is supposed to have another solo X-Men movie shooting this year in Gambit, but we're waiting until that movie is actually in front of cameras before believing that it's actually happening. That's probably a safe bet for any new movies that get announced as being in development at Fox for the time being, especially when it comes to comic book titles.
Do you want to see Kitty Pryde get her own movie?