After Deadpool had the biggest win of any R-rated superhero film at the box office–actually, it was the highest-grossing R-rated movie, period–many fans were left wondering if its success could pave the way for not just more R-rated Marvel movies, but more R-rated superhero movies in general.
Is there a possibility for us to see an R-Rated X-Force film? We already know that on the DC side of things, there’s going to be an R-rated director’s cut of Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice (a blessing? a curse? who knows), and the animated film version of The Killing Joke is going to be taking advantage of an R-rating.
However, if you’re Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, you may not be so convinced that going with an R-rating is the best method for some of these future films. In an recent interview with Deadline (which covered a bunch of topics including Doctor Strange casting and Captain America: Civil War), Feige said he wasn’t exactly convinced that Deadpool‘s success had anything to do with its R rating, or that they were drawn towards making any other rated-R superhero films:
No, we’ve not had any specific conversations about that. And that is only part of the takeaway from Deadpool. The thing that Deadpool shows is, when you present something unique to an audience, they will respond to it. When you present something as popular as a superhero character, in a different and unique and crazy way as they did in Deadpool, it demands attention and audiences went to it. They pulled it off. Tim Miller did a tremendous job.
In Feige’s words, this is what made Deadpool as big of a hit as it was for fans:
The other secret, and why it’s still a secret, I don’t know, but they just took what Deadpool is in the comics. He breaks the fourth wall. He talks into the camera. He doesn’t give a sh–t about any of the other heroes. He doesn’t take anything seriously. All of that is what made Deadpool so popular in the comics. Tim and his writers and Ryan Reynolds were able to get that and even magnify that up on the big screen. We’ve always said if there’s any “secret” it’s respect the source material, understand the source material and then, any adaptation you make from the source material should be done only to enhance whatever the original pure spirit of the source material was. Deadpool hit on all cylinders with that.
I’d argue, though, that the reason Deadpool was able to adapt the comics material as faithfully as they did was because they had the creative flexibility of an R rating on their movie. Would they have been able to pull off as hilarious a film without it? Perhaps, but it also could’ve run the risk of feeling like a toned-down version of Deadpool–and the great thing about his character is that he doesn’t feel the need to censor himself, so why would the film do that to him?
While Feige may not be convinced that there should be other R-rated superhero films on the horizon for Marvel, I’d also argue that the popularity of the Netflix TV shows–which would certainly have earned that rating had they been films instead–is a sign that Marvel fans are welcoming of superhero stories of all genres and moods. I don’t think that every Marvel movie has to have an R rating tacked on from here on out, but there are some darker storylines in the comic source material that would benefit from being adapted that faithfully–and if they wind up needing to take the R instead of a PG-13, the option is there. There’s a misunderstanding around the belief that a rated-R movie has to equal “dark and gritty”, but Deadpool proved those two things don’t have to go together.
(via Deadline)
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