The smash success of “Deadpool” and “Logan” has given big support to those who believe the time has arrived when an R-rating for a superhero movie should be embraced. Even a recent poll suggests that moviegoers want their heroes dropping f-bombs and spilling blood (though that poll was taken right before “Logan” opened, which is like asking people if they like chocolate right before going to the Hershey factory). However, as Jessica Kiang wrote, R-ratings don’t make a good movie, the story does, but nonetheless, you can expect fans are going to keep asking, and at least one other studio besides Fox is apparently open to the idea.
The Wrap reports that DC Films is willing to go R-rated, with their source saying, “One hundred percent yes. With the right character(s).”
You can practically hear the fanboys starting the petition for an R-rated “The Batman,” but again, if the script is any good, more swearing and violence isn’t going to help anything. And if anything, DC Films needs to finally release a movie that has a decent screenplay, whatever rating it happens to have.
Over at Disney and Marvel, both Bob Iger and Kevin Feige said last year that they weren’t pursuing R-rated movies, with the latter explaining going R-rated worked for “Deadpool” because the source material demanded it.
“….We’ve always said if there’s any ‘secret’ it’s respect the source material, understand the source material and then, any adaptation you make from the source material should be done only to enhance whatever the original pure spirit of the source material was. ‘Deadpool’ hit on all cylinders with that,” Feige said in May 2016. And I really doubt that viewpoint is going to change, and why should it? Marvel has been releasing one massive hit after another, and if it ain’t broke…..
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