Earlier this week, Disney CEO Bob Iger offered some assuring words for Deadpool fans when he stated the company’s plans to continue the series with an R-rating in the wake of the Disney/Fox merger. But while it’s nice to know that Wade Wilson won’t be forced to watch his language and keep his violence at a family-friendly level, it also sounds like the Merc with a Mouth won’t be the only comic book hero who isn’t limited by a PG-13 rating.
Lately, there’s been a lot of talk that the upcoming Black Widow movie could be Marvel Studios’ first R-rated feature, and while the claim has yet to be confirmed, Iger seemed to indicate that it was at least a genuine possibility during Disney’s quarterly earnings call:
“We do believe there is room for the Fox properties to exist without significant Disney influence over the nature of the content. Meaning that we see that there is certainly popularity amongst Marvel fans for the R-rated Deadpool films, for instance we’re going to continue in that business, and there might be room for more of that.”
The key part here is his remark that “there might be room for more of that,” as in, more R-rated movies beyond Deadpool. This isn’t the first time that Iger has hinted at this idea, saying back in 2017 that “there might be an opportunity for a Marvel-R brand.” And while Iger was also referring primarily to Deadpool on that occasion, it’s hard to imagine Wade Wilson’s series being the sole exception once the floodgates open for more adult-oriented comic book flicks.
Only time will tell how far Disney intends to take this new approach, but while some younger filmgoers may be disappointed about missing out on Marvel’s output, many fans will argue that the MCU is overdue for some R-rated features, be it Deadpool or Blade. As for Black Widow, a recent report alleged that production is expected to kick off within the next month, suggesting that we hopefully won’t have too much longer to wait before we get a better idea of just how bloody Natasha Romanoff’s solo debut will get.
