Something superhero movie fans have criticized the MCU for over the years is “playing it safe” by always aiming their releases at the PG-13 crowd when the likes of Fox’s X-Men franchise and even DC have made R-rated comic book films such as Deadpool, Logan and Watchmen. It’s possible, though, that Marvel Studios might be ready to branch out into more mature fare with one of their upcoming projects, and it could be the Black Widow movie.
Scarlett Johansson’s super-spy is finally due to get her own vehicle in 2020 and, knowing Natasha Romanoff, there’ll be some pretty dark material and tough action scenes in there. But will it be enough to push the film up to an R-rating? Well, apparently, it’s a possibility. That Hashtag Show’s Charles Murphy is reporting that he heard back when the project was first being developed that Black Widow was being tossed around as a candidate for Marvel’s first mature venture.
Here's something I don't think I've ever talked about. When I first heard they were developing the Black Widow film, I also heard they were discussing whether or not to make it Marvel Studios first R-rated film.
— Charles Murphy (@_CharlesMurphy) January 12, 2019
Murphy then clarified his statement by saying that he’s not claiming that this will definitely be the case, but that folks shouldn’t be shocked if this is the way it goes.
I'm not saying it will be for sure (no way to know what they will settle on at this point), but they have recently said that R-rated MCU films ARE a possibility, so it is a possibility. So if BW ends up R-rated, don't be shocked.
— Charles Murphy (@_CharlesMurphy) January 12, 2019
He’s right about R-rated MCU movies being a possibility. Both Marvel president Kevin Feige and Disney CEO Bob Iger have confirmed that the notion’s not off the table, despite the assumption that Disney wouldn’t want to impede on its family-friendly name. However, if the Mouse House is hoping to make more Deadpool movies when the Fox merger goes through, they’d better be prepared for some pretty mature superhero productions.
Black Widow is set to be directed by Cate Shortland from a script by Jac Schaeffer. According to Murphy, it could go before cameras as soon as March, meaning we’ll surely learn more about which direction it’s headed in sooner rather than later.