Marvel executive Peter Cuneo spoke to a handful of reporters yesterday regarding the future of Marvel Studios and made the bold declaration that they wouldn't be making any movies rated "R."
PG-13 ratings and lighter make better business sense, since you can reach a wider audience, PLUS the comic book movie should be accessible to kids as well as adults--and it makes more money that way as well. Merchandising is also adversely effected when a movie is considered "too hard" for toys, etc.
So, how did Cuneo explain previous R-rated films such as Blade and the earlier and future Punisher movies? Answer: Those films are partnered with outside studios, and this new edict only applies to wholly owned and funded Marvel studios projects. So, it is possible that there may be harder Marvel movies, but only if they aren't coming completely from and by Marvel. There are some characters who are still under contract with different production companies and studios, so that is a possibility.
Cuneo said, "…today, it would be very hard for us to partner with another studio, unless it was an R-rated film, and then I think that's pretty self-obvious because we are not interested in making R-rated films [at Marvel Studios]."