So far, looking purely through a fan excitement prism, the Disney-Fox acquisition has been received very, very positively. While there are some who are bummed that we might not see a gritty, sombre and R-rated Wolverine film like Logan under the Disney banner, most are excited that the likes of Wolverine, the X-Men and Fantastic Four will be reintroduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a few years time. Imagine an X-Men vs Avengers film?! Fans were even happier when the likes of Kevin Feige and the higher-ups at Disney implied that unlike X-Men and Fantastic Four, Deadpool will not be rebooted. That despite being a part of the Disney family, Deadpool will still star Ryan Reynolds and will more than likely remain R-rated.
However, in a news that is sure to irk fans (it certainly irks me), it looks like there’s a very real possibility that Deadpool might end up being PG-13. In an interview with Yahoo Movies UK, director of Deadpool 2, David Leitch, had this to say:
“It’s rated R so that’s not necessarily the [MCU] brand but he doesn’t necessarily need to be R and [Disney] don’t necessarily need to only make PG-13 movies. I think we’ll find a happy ground. There’s a lot of mystery still surrounding what they want to do with Deadpool in [Disney’s] Marvel world but I think, from discussions that I’ve heard, it’s all positive. I think that they’re just trying to figure a way in as Deadpool’s hard.”
It sure does sound like David Leitch isn’t 100% sure about the plans either, but it does sound like the folks at Disney and Marvel Studios are discussing the very real possibility of toning down the Merc with the Mouth to fit within the PG-13 box. If that is indeed the case, it would be a massive bummer.
Previously, 20th Century Fox re-released a PG-13 version of Deadpool 2 titled Once Upon a Deadpool to raise money for charity. While the cause itself was applauded, most critics and fans were terribly unimpressed by the censored version of the character. Deadpool simply doesn’t work without the unfiltered and crass humour. Although it’s now under the Disney banner, I don’t see why Deadpool can’t operate separately, outside of the PG-13 MCU.
