Between ‘Deadpool 3’ and ‘The Boys,’ should superhero movies be rated R moving forward?

July has been a pretty good month for superhero PR, and it’s been a pretty gory month overall. Just one week after The Boys blessed us with a bloody nightmare of a finale, Deadpool & Wolverine kept the momentum going. Come to think of it, both Wade and Logan would be terrifyingly awesome members of the Prime Video hit, and Deadpool 3 shows that Disney needs to let the family-friendly formula go!

After watching Deadpool & Wolverine, there’s something that makes this the MCU’s potential saving grace. When it was announced that the movie would be Rated R, I knew I had to catch it on opening day. After all, with all of his brash, knuckle-slicing, throat-cutting arrogance, Wolverine wasn’t blurting out curse words until 2017’s Logan, and I needed to see him in his element again. And that, to me, has always been why the mutants had never truly lived up to their potential.

Who knew it would take Disney to finally give superheroes some balls of steel? With all the universe-threatening villains and earth-shattering heroes that have graced the MCU in the past decade, we’re just now witnessing history?  

Why The Boys will always be one of the best superhero shows ever

The Boys has always focused on the terrifying potential of superheroes. According to the series, humans are flawed, but superheroes should more often than not be feared. God forbid, you catch a supe on a bad day, there’s no telling what could happen. They’re a million times faster and stronger than we are, so it’s always best to steer clear. Hopefully, with the impending success of Deadpool & Wolverine, the MCU amps up the blood and gore, and allows more superheroes and mutants to let out an F-bomb or two!

Should the MCU continue making R-Rated superhero movies?

Marvel’s Cinematic Universe has been pretty vanilla for the most part. Sure, there’ve been tense and sad moments, and we’ll always scream and cheer for THAT scene in Endgame. But if we’re keeping it real, what the MCU needs to spice things up, is to not give a… hoot? Logan and Wade are a reckless delight in this buddy-superhero hit, and it’s because neither of them give a flying… fudge? (You get the gist.) 

They’re swearing at one another, ripping people apart with ease, and delivering merciless kills that could give the Final Destination franchise a run for its money. Beyond the two lead characters though, the supporting characters (and the mindblowing cameos) also have their fair share of curse words… which begs the question: why are superheroes often tamely portrayed in the media? Let’s face it, The Boys really knows how to sell the idea that heroes and humans are not the same, and we’ll never be. So it’s about time we move forward, and leave the past few MCU phases behind. The people want bloodthirsty action, and hopefully, some more R-Rated superhero movies are on the horizon.