With the huge success of 20th Century Fox’s newest superhero movie, Deadpool, there was no doubt that the studio would be assessing their current stance on R-rated superhero films. But what does this mean for the future of superhero movies, and what future films will be following suit?
This news does not just stop with 20th Century Fox though, there will more studios that will also go through the same processes, reevaluating the risk involved in making this move. The first film to make the plunge (post-Deadpool) will be none other than a film franchise that DP talks about in great length, Wolverine 3. A photo that has surfaced from Fox’s Toy Fair, this past weekend, includes a brief teaser for Wolverine 3. The pamphlet states that filmmakers are looking to get this film an R-rating. The 3rd outing for Wolverine will be the last outing for Hugh Jackman, an actor who like Reynolds was a perfect casting for the adamantium-laced mutant. Wolverine 3 is scheduled to hit theaters on March 3, 2017.
According to Simon Kinberg, in an interview with Collider, Fox is apparently pulling X-Force out of pre-production hell. This is a no-brainer, from a studio that was a bit apprehensive to green light Deadpool in the first place. Deadpool is the shining star of X-Force, and Fox has now showed that they are going all-in on the Merc with a Mouth. There is sure to be Deadpool sequels along the way, and Ryan Reynolds is not going anywhere.
Kinberg says of future comic stories with the potential to score an R-rating, “I think there are some stories that could be R-rated. I don’t know what they are, I mean I think the mainline X-Men movies have their own tone, which is a more operatic tone. It’s more dramatic, it is more PG-13 in a way. X-Force I could see being R-rated, and who knows?”
Ryan Reynolds has also gone on to tell The Playlist, “I think the natural progression is Cable, ‘X-Force,’ hopefully. I’d like see ‘X-Force’ to be rated R as well and have the flexibility to do that stuff. If ‘Deadpool’ does what they want it to do [financially], it affords you that ability to do that.”
Like it or not, Deadpool is a huge success, which means that we will be seeing more R-rated superhero films coming out of the woodwork. This will allow these films to be true to their origins. I can think of one superhero reboot that has been in production for some time that would benefit for this new acceptance of R-ratings, the long-rumored Spawn reboot. I am sure that Todd McFarlane is keeping a close eye on these happenings.
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