The Marvel Cinematic Universe has always been a family-friendly franchise, almost to a fault. None of the characters have any real edge to them, the dramatic and narrative stakes have never been particularly high even with the fate of the world and entire universe having been on the line on multiple occasions, and the constant quips and light-hearted banter almost always inject an instant shot of levity into any scenes that were otherwise emotionally heavy.
Despite the sense of repetition and formula that’s permeated almost every single feature-length installment in the long-running series, though, you can’t argue with the levels of success the MCU has experienced over the last thirteen years. However, the foul-mouthed, R-rated, self-aware, irreverent and fourth wall-breaking Deadpool could be set to shake things up in a big way.
The jokes pretty much write themselves about the massively popular superhero who used to be owned by Fox being parachuted into the world’s most lucrative franchise as the result of a corporate takeover, but we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones who told us Ben Affleck would be back as Batman in The Flash, and that She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel and War Machine shows were coming to Disney Plus – that Deadpool 3 might be a little darker than audiences are expecting.
According to our intel, the movie is set to tackle some weighty subject matter and get pretty grim at times, but it isn’t going to be a relentlessly dour slog and will still be pretty funny. Kevin Feige and Ryan Reynolds are presumably keen to mix it up when it comes to Deadpool 3 to deliver something completely unique for both the title hero and the MCU itself, and a delicate tonal balancing act is definitely one way in which to accomplish that.
