Unlike the rest of the X-Men characters, Deadpool won’t be getting the reboot treatment now that he’s available to use in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Far from it, as Ryan Reynolds will stick around as Wade Wilson for Deadpool 3, and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed that the threequel will be R-rated. Well, as Reynolds often does, he’s responded to this news about his professional life with his unique brand of wit.
Following Kevin Feige’s update about how Deadpool 3 won’t follow in the footsteps of other MCU offerings by being placed in PG-13 territory, Ryan Reynolds name-dropped a certain Web-Slinger on Twitter. Read how Reynolds claims to have tricked Feige and the other Marvel executives.
Ah, well, if Ryan Reynolds used the first two Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man movies as a facade, then it makes perfect sense why Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios gang are okay with Deadpool 3 being R-rated. If those Spidey movies had indeed been rated R, they’d be the tamest of all such action movies given that stamp by the Motion Picture Association of America. Never doubt Reynolds’ ability to pull a fast one for the benefit of keeping the Merc with the Mouth’s cinematic adventures as gory and explicit as possible.
Joking aside, the fact that Marvel Studios is willing for Deadpool 3 to go R-rated, just like the first two Deadpool movies were in the 20th Century Fox days, is bold. When the PG-13 cut of Deadpool 2, a.k.a. Once Upon a Deadpool, was released in winter 2018, there was speculation about if Disney was using this version of the movie to test the waters on how audiences would react to keeping Wade Wilson in the proverbial PG-13 waters. We don’t need to be concerned about that anymore, and perhaps this will pave the way for other MCU characters to operate within an R-rated space, like Mahershala Ali’s Blade.
As a bonus, Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn expressed his delight that Ryan Reynolds will get to star in an R-rated Deadpool 3. It’s extra fitting because Gunn recently confirmed that his upcoming DCEU offering, The Suicide Squad, will also be R-rated.
Given that Wade Wilson originally operated in Fox’s X-Men universe, it’s unclear how exactly he’ll be drawn into the MCU for Deadpool 3. However, I doubt a whole of energy will be dedicated to explaining his new environs, as that can easily be done with some of the character’s classic fourth wall-breaking. That said, there’s still no word if any of the supporting characters from the first two Deadpool movies, like Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa and Karan Soni’s Dopinder will be back for Deadpool 3.
What we do know is that Deadpool 3 has been in development at Marvel Studios since at least December 2019, if not longer. In November 2020, it was announced that Bob’s Burgers writers Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin will write the threequel’s screenplay. Because of Ryan Reynolds’ busy schedule and an already-packed MCU slate, Deadpool 3 isn’t expected to begin filming until 2022 at the earliest.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on Deadpool 3’s progress. Those curious about what the MCU has lined up for theaters would be wise to scan through our Marvel movies guide.
