Deadpool is by far, the most anticipated appearance in the future Marvel movies. When Marvel president Kevin Feige and actor Ryan Reynolds (who plays Deadpool and is also set to produce the movies) confirmed that ‘Deadpool 3’ will be released under Marvel and Disney as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans were exceptionally excited. Despite the excitement, however, some fans of the ‘Merc with a Mouth’ were understandably doubtful of this change of plans. While fans and creators, alike, may be excited about this new development, it does not come without its own challenges. Today we will see the possibility of Deadpool showing up in your favourite MCU movie
The Deadpool movies have notoriously always been released with an R-rating in theatres. An R-rating implies that a movie might involve ideas and content that is not appropriate for a younger audience and is created with a more mature audience in mind. Deadpool’s often graphically depicted gore and violence has earned it its R-rating certification from the film board.
Bringing Deadpool under the Marvel Studios and Disney banner with its exclusively PG-13 rated movies, which generally, despite portraying violence, do not do it graphically, is a complicated matter. Feige, the Marvel President, has confirmed that ‘Deadpool 3’ will be an R-rated movie, which begs the question, are there bigger changes coming to the MCU?
Marvel movies have never shied away from handling some dark storylines before. Though they have had a very strict no profanity or extremely graphic violence rule which has been followed to a quite extreme level by every movie released by them. Even the recent Disney+ TV shows have suffered from this approach, for instance, particular scenes from ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’ were changed after a few months of the finale airing. With the acquisition and incorporation of Deadpool, maybe the MCU is looking to shake things up.
The recent release of ‘Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness’ can be a step toward this new era of MCU. Although the second Doctor strange movie manages to keep its PG-13 rating despite the unexpected, dark visuals, it is certainly the only film to have come close to the threshold of earning an R-Rating. Sam Raimi’s direction sets up a very unusual vision of a horror movie with bits and pieces of superhero magic. There are a number of jumpscares throughout the movie involving Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff and several other characters, along with an especially scary-looking, zombie version of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange towards the end. Even the deaths that take place on screen, may not have been completely outright but definitely were on the brink of being extremely graphic. Certain scenes in the movie seem like they were shot and kept that way, specifically in order to avoid an R-rating.
It is also important to note, that the TV shows Disney (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, The Defenders, etc.) acquired from Netflix to put on their exclusive streaming platform, Disney+ still seem to have kept their R-rated content with no censors. With all this evident development, it might be possible that the MCU is looking to shed its reputation of being a PG-13 friendly studio and embrace a new, daring approach to its upcoming movies.
Another problem that Marvel, while introducing Deadpool into the MCU, might face is whether or not the character will fit within the storyline. Marvel’s Phase Three saw the end of an era, with people saying goodbye to many of their beloved Avengers, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. Phase Four, however, has ushered in a new era of superheroes. Extraordinary growth can be seen in some old characters like Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff, Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson and even Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. The introduction of some extremely compelling characters like the Eternals and Shang-Chi.
Even though Marvel has proven itself to be capable of being able to give their old and new characters fascinating storylines which make sense within the larger universe, Deadpool falls into neither of these categories. With Deadpool, the MCU writers are going to face a peculiar challenge, writing a character with a pre-existing storyline into a universe with its own pre-existing conditions.
It is definitely not an impossible endeavour, nor is it something that the MCU is completely unfamiliar with. As the most recent Spider-Man movie has exhibited, it is not inconceivable to write characters, even variants of a certain character, into a movie following its own separate plot. The presence of both Andrew Garfield’s as well as Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Men in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ was a delightful surprise for the fans of the original and the reboot. In regards to how this could have an effect on the eventual introduction of Deadpool into the MCU, ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ has proven that it is entirely feasible to write characters from other universes into this one while also ensuring they keep their own charm and the traits that make them theirs. Despite Holland, Garfield and Maguire playing essentially the same character, it is apparent that they are not the same person. Each of them retains their own little quips and quirks that set them apart.
As far as explaining Deadpool’s presence goes, Marvel’s Phase Four has been adamant about exploring the Multiverse and its effects, after the ending of ‘Avenger: Endgame’ kicked it off. Almost every Phase Four movie and TV show have dabbled with the Multiverse in one way or another. Whether it is ‘Loki’ with its variants and the Time Variance Authority (TVA) or ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ with its Peter Parkers from the alternate universes or the most extensive and recent jump into the Multiverse with ‘Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness’ which not only introduced Multiverse-jumping hero, America Chavez, played by the extraordinary Xochitl Gomez but also dealt with a plot dependent and affecting the infinite Multiverse, besides it also featured some already well-known heroes from the different universes that fans were thrilled to see. Since the Multiverse is playing such a huge part in this phase, Deadpool’s existence can be explained easily.
What remains to be seen, now, is if Marvel Studios will bring some changes in order to please their newer and growing fandom, or if they will stick to the status quo and continue catering to the fandom they have already built. Though these possibilities might not be mutually exclusive. There are older, committed fans who have stuck with Marvel since its formative days who would prefer a change in content. At the same time, there are also fans who are just beginning their introduction to the MCU and would rather prefer relatively cleaner and less graphic depictions in the movies. At the end of the day, the fact remains, that it is not viable to please everyone. There will always be people who are upset by the changes made and people who adore these changes. Either way, it is a risk, and only time will tell if Marvel is willing to take it.
Also Read: Top 10 Amazing Versions of Spider-Man from the Multiverse
