Disney CEO Bob Iger recently said that the company would approve R-rated films in the future, but with the provision that they “can get the messaging right.” Iger was responding at that time to a question about a potential Deadpool 2 movie starring Hollywood icon Ryan Reynolds.
The Walt Disney Company recently announced its purchase of a large division of 20th Century Fox reportedly worth a mind-boggling $52.4 billion, as per GameSpot. The deal is all-stock and amounted up to $66.1 billion, including $13.7 billion of Fox’s liabilities.
Deadpool is a Marvel character previously owned by Fox. Reynolds starred in a full-length feature film about the character last year. It got an R rating from the MPAA because of its depiction of strong language and violence throughout the whole movie.
Disney movies, which include the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the Star Wars series, are all known to be child-friendly. There were rumors that should a second installment of the Deadpool series is shown, it would get a lowered PG-13 rating, which many movie experts believe would disappoint most of the character’s fans.
Iger, replying to reporter Ben Fritz’s inquiry of a possible Deadpool sequel, said that the character will always be “Marvel branded” more than Disney’s. However, the executive said that the company is open to releasing an R-rated Marvel film, such as Deadpool 2, for as long as they will have the chance to caution their regular audience of “what’s coming.”
Reynolds has been noisy in social media about the merger. He posted an inquiry on Twitter asking, “I wonder how the fudge would affect Deadpool?” before the deal was confirmed.
Reynolds posted another tweet during the time when the merger’s confirmation is getting close, joking about Mickey Mouse and his character Deadpool.
Finally, when the deal was sealed, Reynolds tweeted an image showing Deadpool getting thrown out of Disneyland by a cop with the caption: “Apparently you can’t actually blow the Matterhorn.”
Last year, Iger said that Disney does not intend to make any R-rated Marvel movies any time in the future. The CEO had evidently changed his mind with his latest comments.
Aside from Deadpool, the company now owns the Fantastic Four and X-men movie franchises as well. The recent Logan film about X-men character Wolverine was also R-rated by the MPAA. It grossed more than $600 million in the box office with a budget of only $97 million.
Deadpool 2, tentatively referred to as Untitled Deadpool Sequel because of a lack of an official title, finished filming in October, two months before the merger. Reynolds is back to play the title role with Josh Brolin as Cable, Morena Baccarin as Wade Wilson’s love interest Vanessa, and T.J. Miller as Weasel.
The other mutant characters featured in the film are Zazie Beetz as Domino, Jack Kesy as Black Tom Cassidy, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Stefan Kapicic as the voice of Colossus.
Deadpool 2 is scheduled for release in June of next year and would be the first R-rated movie for Disney should it ultimately get such rating.
