Marvel Studios currently have twelve feature films, ten TV shows, two animated spinoffs and a holiday special in the works, and out of those 25 projects, only Deadpool 3 is expected to get an R-rating. For over a dozen years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a family-friendly brand, and based on their upcoming slate that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon.
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger did admit that adult-orientated MCU movies weren’t outside the realm of possibility, and having acquired Fox and rebranded their production arm as 20th Century Studios, there’s even a ready made home for them. However, there’s currently no R-rated content on Disney Plus and there never will be, with more mature Fox titles being locked behind a parental control as part of the upcoming STAR expansion.
That being said, insider Daniel Richtman is claiming that Marvel are working on multiple R-rated movies, but doesn’t reveal any more than that. Of course, this one should be taken with a pinch of salt when Richtman has gone R mad recently after reporting that Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes 3, Star Wars, Transformers, Star Trek, Sony’s SPUMC, the DCEU and even Tom Holland’s Spider-Man were all considering it as a possibility, and the likelihood of most of them happening seems slim.
Of course, there’s no reason why Marvel shouldn’t or couldn’t use 20th Century Studios to broaden and diversify their output into R-rated territory, but Kevin Feige’s ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach has turned the MCU into the most successful franchise in the history of cinema, and with the universe only set to expand, he might be wary of rocking the boat to any great degree.
