With the Merc on his way to the MCU, following Disney’s merger with Fox, fans of the character are both excited to see him rub shoulders with the Avengers and a little scared that the less squeaky-clean edges of Ryan Reynolds’ antihero will have to be sanded off. Specifically, there’s been a lot of discussion over whether Disney will be willing to give Deadpool 3 an R-rating, in keeping with previous DP films but at odds with the MCU’s family friendly fare.
The latest word on the topic comes from screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and they seem 100% certain that the threequel will be just as mature as Wade Wilson’s first two solo movies. And there’s one big reason for that: Deadpool 3 won’t be released under Marvel Studios or Disney’s names but instead, as part of the new 20th Century Studios banner.
“Absolutely [it will be], because I don’t think it’ll be under the Disney banner. Like, I don’t think when you go to Deadpool 3, there’s going to be a Magic Castle that appears. I think it’s going to be under the Fox banner, so yes,” says Reese.
Though Reese says the “Fox banner,” he’s referring to the rebranded 20th Century Studios, which now exists within Disney. Despite the loss of the Fox name, then, it seems the Mouse House will continue to use their acquired studio in order to release projects that perhaps don’t fit Disney’s typically wholesome image. This makes a lot of sense and would also explain why Disney CEO Bob Iger has been on board with retaining Deadpool’s R-rating from day one.
In any case, it was announced by Reynolds himself in December that Deadpool 3 is officially in the works and while a director has yet to be found – DP2‘s David Leitch has expressed interest in returning, though – it’s expected to be entering production sooner rather than later, with multiple sources pointing to it potentially filling Marvel’s October 2022 release slot.
And as for that R-rating? Well, it seems pretty much confirmed at this point, but given that we’ve heard there’s still been some hesitation from Marvel, we’ll just have to wait and see what the studio ultimately ends up doing.
