Deadpool has done the math: Ryan Reynolds says there’s a ‘70 percent chance’ Part 3 shoots next year

He may be known for playing the merc with a mouth, but fans can probably forgive Ryan Reynolds for sounding more like the merc with the math — especially when he’s crunching the numbers to forecast with 70 percent certainty that the next Deadpool movie could be storming our way sooner than we thought.

With Disney seemingly laying aside the censoring duct tape so our mouthy hero can keep maxing out the sass at his new corporate home, Reynolds dropped an update that pegs the third Deadpool movie to begin filming as soon as next year. Speaking with Collider, Reynolds came off like an under-qualified TV meteorologist as he laid out the chances for production to get underway in 2022.

“The percentage chance? I don’t know. I couldn’t assign a percentage to that,” Reynolds replied when asked about the new movie’s production start. “I’d say it’s 50/50 maybe? We’re really actively developing it and getting it into pretty good shape. What the hell month is it? August? Oh next year? Probably pretty damn good. I’d say 70 percent.”

We’ll leave you alone with your calculators for a second to process all that, but the bottom line is this: Reynolds is already steeped in the collaborative writing and creative process for Deadpool 3 (or whatever we’ll be calling it), and seems pretty confident about the time it’ll take to hit its scheduling goals — even if we don’t yet know who the director will be. If it's shooting next year, decent odds we could see it on the big screen around... 2023, maybe?

The new movie is being penned by the Emmy-winning Molyneux sisters (Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin), both scribes and executive producers for Fox’s Bob’s Burgers — with a little behind-the-scenes input, naturally, from Reynolds himself.

“It’s something that is just a daily process. Writing is kind of like that, you’ve gotta allot time to do it and walk away, and I’m working with the Molyneuxs on it, it’s been great,” Reynolds said. “They’re incredibly talented and so, so smart. They so understand that world and know how to zig when everyone’s expecting a zag, so it’s been a lot of fun.”

After some early trepidation over how Disney might handle the immensely successful R-rated franchise in the wake of acquiring Deadpool (and the entire X-gang) from Fox, it looks as though our mischievous Marvel merc will be able to run his mouth in his first Disney-distributed movie with that cherished R rating fully intact. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige confirmed earlier this year that Deadpool 3 will indeed remain in the same sweet adult comedy zone it enjoyed through the first two films’ run at Fox.

Hey, it’s Deadpool’s world, and we’re just a bunch of NPCs living in it. But if you wanna see Reynolds himself behaving like a hapless video game sideshow character who thinks there’s more to his virtual life, check out the long-awaited Free Guy, which debuts in theaters (finally!) beginning Aug. 13.