A "Deadpool" sequel was a given even before the film became the awards season contender no one would have predicted, but now the follow-up is getting extra attention.

Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the writers behind the "merc with the mouth," recently chatted with Deadline about their surprise hit, including its upcoming sequel and "X-Men" crossover potential. They're making good progress on the second film and are "very, very excited" and "nervous" about it, according to Reese.

Although there's been plenty of talk about Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) teaming up with other superheroes, the unconventional character will still be the headliner of "Deadpool 2."

"It'll be a solo movie," Reese told Deadline. "It'll be populated with a lot of characters, but it is still Deadpool's movie, this next one."

The plan is for them to shoot the action flick this year, and they've already written multiple drafts of the script.

"It's taken different twists and turns, but it's really coalescing," Reese said.

The writers aren't ruling out future crossovers, though. Wernick pointed out that they used the first film to "set up Deadpool and create his world," leaving them room to fit in other characters as well. The reverse is also true, as Reese explained.

"It hasn't been planned yet, but I don't think it would be too hard to drop Deadpool into another movie," Reese said.

In "Deadpool," for example, the relatively normal "X-Men" characters provided "foils" for the crazy hero.

"There was enough sanity surrounding Deadpool's insanity that it balanced pretty nicely," Reese said. "I think you could probably take Deadpool the way they did with Spider-Man in 'Civil War' and drop him into a serious movie and it might work."

[via: Deadline]