Captain America doesn't have to cuss in his movies to sell tickets, but Deadpool does. Or at least, so we thought. In probably this past week's most unexpected movie news, we heard that one of this year's biggest movies, Deadpool 2, is heading back to theaters seven months after its initial release. Only this time it will be with a PG-13 cut. The PG-13 version of Deadpool 2 will reportedly be released on December 21st, just in time for Christmas. Now it seems like this re-release of Deadpool 2 will be leaning into the spirit of the season with a new title. Take a look:
Fox has yet to confirm the title reported by Lizo Mzimba on Twitter, but The Deadpool Before Christmas sounds about right. Deadpool 2 received a lewder, cruder, longer cut for its home video release, titled the Deadpool 2 Super Duper $@%!#& Cut. So it makes sense that each new version of this film get a fun moniker. Considering that this Deadpool will be a bit more family friendly and is a holiday release, might as well embrace all of that with a title that references the Christmas classic, The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Given Ryan Reynolds' initial tweet teasing the re-release, which referenced The Princess Bride, you might have thought that this cut might be called The Princess Merc or Deadpool 2: Prepare to Die or simply Inconceivable!, which would echo many initial thoughts about a PG-13-rated Deadpool movie. But The Deadpool Before Christmas is also great.
Deadpool 2 and The Nightmare Before Christmas actually bear some similarities too, making the title quite appropriate. Like Jack Skellington, Deadpool is a bit of a deranged character that puts on a red suit and makes a terrible mess of things. While Jack Skellington learned the true meaning of Christmas, Wade Wilson found his purpose and learned the importance of family. Presumably the PG-13 cut will simply be omitting some of the raunchier dialogue and gorier violence. But given this title and the film's release date, it will be interesting to see if The Deadpool Before Christmas adds in some holiday-themed dialogue and the like.
This PG-13 Deadpool is an intriguing experiment. Deadpool and the rest of the Fox X-Men characters will soon be under the Disney umbrella, along with Jack Skellington-- where naughty words and R ratings are generally big no-nos. Bob Iger, keenly aware of the financial incentive to keep Deadpool R-rated, has indicated in the past that there may be an opportunity for a Marvel-R brand for the character to call home. So is this just a test run for the character under the restrictions of PG-13 or just a great way to let more people see this movie and add a few dollar signs to fifth biggest movie of the year domestically? Either way, it is a curious thing and there are certainly worse ways to spend the holidays than with Deadpool Claus.
We'll keep you updated if The Deadpool Before Christmas becomes official and when we learn more about this re-release. In the meantime, to see all the movies coming to theaters this holiday season, head on over to our release schedule.
