While nothing is official here yet, many whispers of Predators producer and Sin City director Robert Rodriguez being a potential name to helm the Marvel Studios film adaptation Deadpool have been floating through the air. These whispers have been denied by all involved, but now it appears there’s some truth behind them after all.

According to the LA Times’ 24 Frames blog, Rodriguez is in fact in some form of negotiations with 20th Century Fox to take the wheel on Deadpool. The movie is expected to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine star Ryan Reynolds returning to his role of the Merc with the Mouth, an ultra-sarcastic mercenary named Wade Wilson who while dying from cancer was offered a cure within the Weapon X program. While there, the procedures scarred him greatly and were considered a failure, leaving him confined to an area for failed experiments. Other prisoners of the facility had a betting ring for who would die next, and Wilson was the top bet. This ring was called the dead pool, and when Wilson suddenly healed up and escaped, he adopted the name.

All that’s currently known is that Rodriguez has read the scrip written by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, which lead to the negotiating. It’s unclear what the chances of this becoming official are; Rodriguez is about as busy as they come these days. In addition to Machete — set to be released on September 3, 2010 — the director has Spy Kids 4 on the way, and fans on their knees begging for Sin City 2, which he does seem close to buckling down and taking on. If he does reach an agreement with Fox, it will be interesting to see which of these takes a seat on the back burner for a bit.

I for one do want to see a (well-done and faithful) Deadpool movie, and I’m not someone familiar with the comic. Still, if I had to choose, I would prefer to see Sin City 2 next.