While Marvel Studios has explored TV-MA content on Disney+ with Werewolf by Night and Echo, it will finally shed its kid-friendly PG-13 identity in theaters with the release of Deadpool & Wolverine.
The R-Rated movie will be every bit as outrageous as Deadpool and Deadpool 2. However, according to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, this team-up isn't necessarily going to be your typical R-Rated blockbuster.
"I think we’ve been edgy in the past, but my favorite thing is that we span all types of genres and tones," he tells Deadline. "I think it gets a lot of attention that this is our first R-rated movie, but it is the third R-rated Deadpool movie, so we wanted to stay true to what Ryan has built over those last couple of movies and we weren’t going to undo that."
"Yes, it’s R-rated, yes there’s some language and blood, but the film is incredibly emotional. I keep calling it the most wholesome R-rated film that anybody can ever see. It really is a celebration of friendship and family and of found family."
"I don’t want to overdo it, but for all the R-rated raunchiness that gets attention, when people see the movie, it’s going to be about how heartfelt it is — in my opinion, much more than the first two Deadpool films," Feige continued. "That’s what I’m really excited about, once people get past the ‘F’ words and the R-rating, to see how sweet it is."
We'd imagine Deadpool & Wolverine will ultimately be a story about the bromance between its title characters and how they become the MCU's "Best Bubs."
Early tracking suggests the threequel will be the biggest hit of 2024. Elsewhere in the conversation, Feige opened up about how Marvel Studios hopes Deadpool & Wolverine will help contribute to the struggling box office in the wake of Inside Out 2's recent record-breaking success.
"I think the experience that it’s going to give to people and hopefully encourage people to go see it again and again, that’s our job," he explained. "That’s our job at Marvel, that’s our job as the 100-year old Hollywood industry — to remind people that we have the best storytellers and can provide the best entertainment in the world."
"As we keep doing that in ways that engage, excite and grab onto the imagination and the psyche of the audience, that’s all we ever wanted to do, that’s all we tried to do. I think we have to keep evolving and expanding the ways we do that."
The pressure is on Deadpool & Wolverine to deliver because fans are hoping it will be the movie that finally vanquishes all that talk of "superhero fatigue."
Deadpool & Wolverine arrives in theaters on July 26.