A PG-13 Rating For ‘Deadpool’?
Fox’s “Deadpool” is probably one of the most anticipated comic book films in a long time and that’s saying a lot.
After his… unfortunate introduction to audiences in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” the trailers have really had to work overtime to get us on board with the idea of a Deadpool movie. For years it seemed like a pipe-dream much less as a R-rated film. However, maybe the marketing campaign worked a little too well as there is now a petition to have a PG-13 cut of the film released along with the R-rated version.
The new “Deadpool” film looks to be shaping up as one of the more accurate comic-to-screen adaptations in a long time. While it may seem like a reasonable request at first glance, most fans have come down hard on this idea. For those who don’t know, Deadpool is a man (Wade Wilson) dying from cancer. In desperation he agrees to take part in an experiment to give him the healing factor of Wolverine. It works but also messes with the cancer cells to deform his skin and snap his mind (to the point he feels the mask is his real face). He then gets to work as an assassin for hire and… that’s about it. He’s been doing that and crossing over with other Marvel comics titles ever since. The comics can get very gory (though they aren’t always) but most would agree his character, action, and humor are more R-rated type material than PG-13.
What got this whole PG-13 petition started was apparently a letter by an 8-year old boy written to his parents pleading with them to let him see the film. It seems to have warmed some people’s hearts. The petition can be found here. The gist is that this kid really wants to be able to see the movie. As a result, some feel that the child and others like him should be able to watch the film. Many think this idea is crazy. Even Actor Ryan Reynolds has dismissed the idea in interviews. However, the main reason most fans are against this is that a R-rated comic book film is something they have been requesting for a long time. For years they had to put up with the fact that no matter the character or property getting adapted, it’s a comic book therefore it’ll have to be edited and changed to fit into PG-13 (“Spawn” anyone?) as a result robbing us of better versions we could have gotten (“Ghost Rider”) or story arcs that studios like Disney or Warner Bros would never allow (Iron-Man: Demon in a Bottle). This could be a big game changer and all it requires is for people to vote with their wallets.
The film itself is set to be released February 12th 2016 with a R-rating.
I’m stunned that this movie got made, and I expect it to do poorly in the theaters. As far as a PG-13 version for the kids that want to see it: WHY IS THERE ANY EIGHT YEAR OLD WHO WANTS TO SEE A MOVIE ABOUT A NUTJOB ASSASSIN??!! At least his parents seem to have the good sense to tell him “No, you aren’t going to see that”. Good for them. The only reason my eight year olds know who he is is because of his appearances in Marvel Vs Capcom 3 and Ultimate Spider-man. They think he’s a jerk… Read more »
Haha, I do like the idea of throwing a wrench in the gears to cause “fandomonium”
I want all the trailers to be a giant hoax and when the nutter hit the theart they are treated to a two hour loop of Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
I’m personally not a big Deadpool fan, he’s just alright. However the trailers have really won me over.
Something I didn’t put into the article but my response to the kid is TOUGH! I really wanted to see Jurassic Park and Robocop as a kid but my dad wouldn’t let me and I had to wait until I got older i.e. what we all have to do, deal with it!
When my little brother was 9 or 10 he really wanted to go see Predator. I wasn’t interested at the time. My dad took him to see it. Now, an R rating back in the eighties was much different than one today, and if things got really nasty I know my old man wouldn’t hesitate to haul him on out of the theater. Rated R martial arts flicks were fine and the three of us would go. There was a line between what was alright and he’d take us, and what wasn’t alright. “No” was the final word, and we… Read more »
My dad would watch the films first then tell us if it was ok that we watch them and in some cases end up having to see them twice thanks to that practice.
He also had a rule for renting movies for when we were younger, I could rent dark violent movies however I had space them out because he didn’t want us to get desensitized.
Nice. I’m lucky that my girls don’t have have some of my tastes as far as movies go. I worry a bit about some of the PG-13 Marvel stuff because they have an interest in that, but some of it may be a bit much. They got through Guardians of the Galaxy wonderfully and loved it. The only problem with Ant-Man was when the sheep got turned into a smear of protoplasm. They really love animals. Other than that, they loved it. That’s part of good parenting. There’s things I can’t wait to watch with my kids, but I have… Read more »