Ever since the merger between Fox and Disney happened, the biggest question everyone has in their minds is that will Deadpool 3 still happen, and will it still be rated-R?
Kevin Feige had confirmed that while Disney and the Marvel Studios don’t typically create movies that are R-rated, Deadpool 3 will be a special exception. This is so that the Deadpool trilogy will finish with the rating they started with.
Throughout this article, we will give more details about the history of the Deadpool franchise and what is happening right now with the status of Deadpool 3.
Why Everyone Is Asking If Deadpool 3 Will Be R-Rated
Everyone is asking if Deadpool 3 will be R-rated because the Deadpool movie franchise is the most successful R-rated superhero franchise in history. Before the original Deadpool movie happened, there was even a question if there is a market for R-rated superhero movies, given that the R-rated superhero movies before Deadpool, like Kick-Ass or Dredd, only enjoyed minimal success despite their critical and fan consensus. That question has been answered in full when Deadpool became a commercial and critical success.
Without Deadpool, Fox would not have the confidence to have released Logan. Another X-Men spin-off movie starring Hugh Jackman, which back then was thought to be his last hurrah as the character of Logan. Just like the Deadpool franchise, that movie was also a critical and commercial success. Universally agreed as the best X-Men movie over the decades of X-Men movies.
The success of Deadpool as an R-rated property has been proven again with the release of Deadpool 2. Before Deadpool 3 went into production, however, news of the merger between Fox and Disney started to spread. The endpoint is Fox became a subsidiary of Disney, transferring all rights of every future X-Men movie to Disney, including Deadpool.
This is the point where everyone asks the question, is Deadpool will remain an R-rated film property? Disney is the most successful entertainment company in the world, but its brand image hinges on being a family entertainment company.
To this day, no film or TV property under the House of Mouse is R-rated. Not even superhero movies under the banner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe hold that distinction. If anything, the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe hinges on the property being accessible to the widest demographic possible. Deadpool just feels like a totally different animal. However, with the success of the Deadpool franchise, surely, Disney will not just let the franchise die.
The merger between Disney and Fox happened in 2019. To this day, Deadpool 3 has yet to happen. Even from the beginning when news of the merger started to spread, the biggest question was not if Deadpool 3 will be R-rated, but if Deadpool 3 would happen at all. Under the House of Mouse is that even possible?
Luckily, recent news confirms that Hugh Jackman will return as Logan for Deadpool 3 is a good sign that everything is moving forward.
Will Deadpool 3 Be R-Rated?
Kevin Feige has confirmed once and for all that Deadpool 3 will retain the R-rating of the previous movies in the franchise to the relief of the fans who believe that Deadpool cannot operate in a rating less than an R. After all Deadpool is supposed to be a subversive parody of the violence of the superhero genre. The point is to make fun of superheroes with Looney Tunes slapstick possible because of Deadpool’s enhanced healing factor. Over-the-top violence at the expense of Deadpool’s body that will never die is a way of doing that.
All other Disney property does not have an R-rating so they can be seen by the widest demographic. So, Deadpool is a special exception, making this a monumental moment in Disney history.
With the confirmation that Hugh Jackman’s Logan will be involved in the picture, with his own healing factor to be considered, this means Deadpool and Logan can be as violent to each other as they please. Due to Logan’s violent nature and metallic claws, he too is a character that belongs to the R-rated scene.
Will Deadpool 3 Be Shown In Disney+
As of right now, there is no confirmation that Deadpool will be shown on Disney+. The best bet will be is that it will only be shown in theaters. Whether it will be available later in Disney+ in the next months is equally unclear.
Since Deadpool 3 is a special exception as a Disney movie with an R-rating, we are in uncharted territory. Disney+ is supposed to be a family streaming service. It is too early to say if Disney will even allow the likely to be ultra-violent Deadpool 3 to be categorized next to other superhero movies like Avengers, or Spider-Man: No Way Home. It would look out of place.
Will There Be Other R-Rated Disney Movies?
As of now, the prospect of having other Disney movies with an R-rating is very unlikely. However, anything is possible. Before 2003, there was no PG-13 Disney movie, but it all changed with the first PG-13 Disney movie, Pirates of The Caribbean. Pirates of the Caribbean became a sleeper hit. Since then, there have been multiple movies under Disney that are PG-13.
PG-13 after all is the territory of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The entire Marvel, superhero enterprise would be impossible if the movies are not PG-13, given that all of them are action movies where multiple super-powered beings regularly clash in violent ways.
So right now, Deadpool 3 is the only R-rated Disney movie. If Disney sees fit for other movies to be R-rated under their banner because of Deadpool 3’s success… This may be the start of something unprecedented.
