X-Force co-creator Rob Liefeld is confident that when the militaristic X-Men team debuts on the big screen, it has a chance to stand toe-to-toe with Marvel Studios' immensely successful Avengers franchise.

Asked by Fandango whether X-Force could rival the Avengers, Liefeld responded, "Well, this version, yes." He added, "I'm confident about the X-Force -- that it's an R-rated Avengers in the making. You can see where Fox is building up a roster that rivals what happened over with the Avengers. They built up piece by piece this impressive group of personalities, and actors, and talent that people just responded to. So I'm obviously at a disadvantage."

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"I've seen more than the average Joe has seen," he continued, "but I see how well it clicks, and I think that when you throw the R-rating in there, the X-Force can absolutely rival the Avengers. X-Force is not family friendly, and that matters, too. I definitely do see them building their version of the Avengers with this."

X-Force will reportedly start filming in in Fall 2018. Based on the Marvel Comics property, X-Force is a more violent offshoot of the X-Men that should lend itself to Fox’s current slate of darker mutant movies. Deadpool, Cable and several other characters debuting in Deadpool 2 are expected to return for the film.

Directed by David Leitch, Deadpool 2 stars Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Stefan Kapičić as the voice of Colossus, and Karan Soni as Dopinder, with newcomers Zazie Beetz as Domino, Josh Brolin as Cable, Julian Dennison in an unknown role, and Jack Kesy as a villain widely thought to be Black Tom Cassidy. The film hits theaters on May 18.

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