“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.”
Marvel Studios’ R-rated Deadpool & Wolverine is dropping an F-bomb on the MCU. Not the F-dash-dash-dash word β although there are plenty of those β but the other F-word: Friendship. Disney has been showing off footage from the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to receive an R rating which, according to the MPA, is officially rated R for “strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore and sexual references.” But the ultra-violent, foul-mouthed Deadpool 3 is also something else: wholesome as f—.
“I think we’ve been edgy in the past, but my favorite thing is that we span all types of genres and tones. 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 [Reynolds] has built over those last couple of movies and we weren’t going to undo that,” Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige told Deadline.
Feige β who uncharacteristically dropped an F-bomb on stage when he described Deadpool & Wolverine as “f—ing awesome” at CinemaCon β added that the movie, which teams a retired Wade Wilson (Reynolds) with a washed-up Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) who “let down his entire world,” has a Hulk-sized heart.
“I will say β Hugh and Ryan have talked about this β and I think people can tell from the trailer and from the press tour so far, 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,” Feige said. “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 β in my opinion, much more than the first two Deadpool films. 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.”
Reynolds and Jackman also teased that the first film since 2009’s Fox-made X-Men Origins: Wolverine to feature their two characters together is as edgy as it is emotional.
“These are my closest friends,” Reynolds said of Jackman and director Shawn Levy during a recent fan event in Shanghai, China. “So to make a movie together, and to have the experience be something that is easily the best experience of my entire life and incredibly profound… but then for the film to exceed that experience, and be even more special and more emotional than anything that I’ve ever been a part of and funnier because it’s so emotional, it allows so much of that funny to come out in interesting ways.”
“I thought that making my first Marvel movie would be scary, or challenging in new ways, and it was a big task,” Levy added. “Because you’re telling a big story of anti-heroes who are also heroes. But I have to say: Marvel let us write the script we wanted to write and make the movie we wanted to make. It is an MCU movie β so it is filled with action, adventure, and big themes β but it is very faithful to the Deadpool tone, which is audacious, irreverent, and always surprising.”
Reynolds and Jackman star alongside returning Deadpool cast members Morena Baccarin, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Rob Delaney, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, and Stefan KapiΔiΔ, with Succession star Matthew Macfadyen joining the MCU as TVA Agent Paradox and The Crown‘s Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova. Marvel Studios’ R-rated Deadpool & Wolverine opens only in theaters July 26th.
