There had been talk that ‘Venom’ might have been rated R, but ultimately it arrived with a PG-13 rating. This was done to make the film more compatible with the existing superhero movies, including the ‘Spider-Man’ franchise, even though there was no direct connection between ‘Venom’ and ‘Spider-Man’ at that time.
Now that Warner Brothers ‘Joker’ is a runaway success, having become the first R-rated movie to cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office, ‘Venom’ producer Matt Tolmach says that ‘Venom 2’ might actually go a little darker into the same territory.
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Speaking to Cinema Blend, Tolmach said:
“I mean, I think you always have to think about [it], now that that works. Having said that, our movie worked really well. Our franchise exists as it is, and I don’t think anybody is looking to just say, ‘Hey, they [did it]!’ We have a place in the world. So it isn’t like suddenly everybody’s considering what to do with the rating. … I think what ‘Joker’ does is it tells you that you can succeed. For a very long time, that was the narrative. And Deadpool sort of wrestled that to the turf, and then Logan, but for a long time, that was considered totally forbidden. … So you know, I think it’s the greatest thing in the world that R-rated movies are being embraced by massive audiences. And it just means that there are more opportunities for that kind of storytelling.”
In all fairness, there had already been R-rated comic book movies, the two ‘Deadpool’ flicks and ‘Logan’, so ‘Joker’ wasn’t the first to bear the adults-only label. And those films were also financially successful. (Not $1 billion successful, but still successful.)
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The status of the ‘Venom’ movies is still a little mysterious. Is this the same world as the one shown in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ or not? If so, does that place ‘Venom’ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, when Marvel has no involvement in those pics?
‘Venom’ was a bit of a surprise hit, as it didn’t have a lot if heat leading up to its release. Despite poor reviews, it went on to make $856M. The sequel is due out next year.
Would you like to see an R-rated ‘Venom’ sequel? Or would you rather it stay a little more kid-friendly?
