It was no surprise that 20th Century Fox included the mega-popular assassin Deadpool in one of their ‘X-Men’ movies, 2009’s ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’. They scored a coup securing the big name leading man and self-professed comic fanatic Ryan Reynolds to embody the title role. Unfortunately, this film was both a critical and financial disappointment and squelched plans for two additional ‘X-Men Origins’ movies which would have focused on Magneto and Storm as well as a planned solo ‘Deadpool’ spin-off movie. (It didn’t help that ‘The Merc With A Mouth,’ known for his quip-y banter was muted at the end!)
But after a long hiatus, a ‘Deadpool’ movie is finally on the way for release next year, with Reynolds reprising the role. (‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ essentially negated the events in ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’, so just forget any of that ever happened.)
Like most super hero movies, Fox planned to deliver a PG-13 film and last summer, some test footage, uhhhh “leaked” online, which upset a lot of die-hard fans, who felt that to really capture the character, the movie needed an R-rating. It wouldn’t be a first. Both Punisher movies and all three Blade films were rated R. But those characters and the films themselves were clearly not for kids. But with Marvel now owned by Disney and a driving force in the realm of “family entertainment,” could Fox (or Marvel) be wary releasing a darker film at this point and possibly harming the juggernaut (no pun intended) that is Marvel’s brand?
Reynolds recently referred to ‘Deadpool’ as the ‘independent film’ of the super hero universe. As far as to what rating the creators are shooting for, he vaguely answered, “The debate rages on. We’ll see.” (Well, it’s not coming out ’til next year, so a lot could change.)
He went on to discuss the character, by saying “He’s a character that’s aware he’s in a film, he’s aware that he breaks the fourth wall. I mean, he does certain things that are unlike anything else in the X-Men Universe yet he is a part of the X-Men Universe. So it makes it a little challenging, I think, to find a way.”
‘Deadpool’ is expected to slay audiences, starting on February 12, 2016, which makes it the next ‘X-Men’ movie to hit theaters. It costars T.J. Miller as Weasel, Morena Baccarin as Copycat and Gina Carano as Angel Dust.
The ‘X-Men’ movies in general are darker than the movies made by Marvel Studios. But since Marvel slaps their logo on every movie associated with the comics, there is naturally going to be a connection in some viewers’ minds. Let’s face it, these movies can’t just cater to the geek community and most lay people don’t know that some Marvel movies are made by one studio while others are made by different ones.
At any rate, do you want ‘Deadpool’ to be rated PG-13 or R? Will an R-rated ‘Deadpool’ harm Marvel’s reputation?
Source: Cinema Blend
