There is a good reason why people are concerned about Deadpool 3 now that the franchise officially belongs to Disney. After all, Wade Wilson's movies are known for its blood and gore as well as the Merc with the Mouth's colorful language. On the other hand, Disney prefers to release family-friendly films with a respectable PG-13 rating. So is it possible that Ryan Reynolds will no longer return if the third Deadpool flick will not be given an R-rating?
Disney's recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox was certainly huge news, especially for comic book fans. Since Fox owns the rights to comic book characters like the X-Men and Fantastic Four, these properties officially belong to the House of Mouse after the acquisition. While this is welcome news for everyone, it could also mean that Disney and Marvel Studios now have the rights to the next Deadpool movie. Considering that both studios don't produce R-rated films, there is a huge chance that Deadpool 3 will end up being PG-13.
So will the tamer rating affect the franchise? Ryan Reynolds had always been vocal about wanting to portray Wade Wilson as genuinely as possible. The comic book character is known for cursing whenever he can and coming up with some creative and bloody kills. Since none of these are allowed in PG-13 films, fans are concerned that Reynolds might decide to leave Deadpool 3 rather than play a watered-down version of his character.
Interestingly, Deadpool 2 director David Leitch believes that there is a way to keep the character's flair without having to go all out on the age rating. "It's rated R so that's not necessarily the [MCU] brand, but he doesn't necessarily need to be R and [Disney] don't necessarily need to only make PG-13 movies," Leitch said. "I think we'll find a happy ground."
Fans may have forgotten that Deadpool already had a PG-13 film. Back in December 2018, the second Deadpool movie was recut and re-released as Once Upon A Deadpool. Although it was a cleaner version of Deadpool 2, the new cut also included new footage including Ryan Reynolds reenacting the iconic scene from The Princess Bride with Fred Savage. Although fans loved the new version, it also received mixed reviews from critics.
For now, Disney and Marvel Studios have yet to announce Deadpool 3. However, considering how much money the first two movies made, it won't be a surprise if the sequel gets developed in the next few years.
