Wolverine 3 Targeting R-Rating Following Deadpool’s Success

Hugh Jackman’s final outing as mutant superhero Wolverine may be his first in an R-rated feature, according to 20th Century Fox marketing material spotted at the New York Toy Fair.

If Fox are indeed targeting an R-rating it is almost certainly in response to the enormous success of Ryan Reynolds’ ‘Deadpool’, which this past weekend took $135 million at the US box office and $200m worldwide.

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A Reddit user claiming to have attended the Toy Fair posted an image of the materials (below), which depict a logo for the next ‘Wolverine’ spin-off and lists its star, director James Mangold and an anticipated R rating.

‘Deadpool’s impressive box office debut ranks him among the very best-performing superhero movies ever, despite the R-rating that usually hampers box office clout. To make a comparison, the film performed better on its opening weekend than any of Fox’s previous ‘X-Men’ films.

Fans are hoping it will pave the way for more R-rated comic book movies, and this appears to confirm that Fox is certainly considering them more seriously than ever before.

However, there should be a time and place for R-rated comic book movies, and it’s important to acknowledge that ‘Deadpool’s success isn’t entirely down to its adult content. It’s status as a comedy played a huge part as well, and that won’t be easily replicated - especially by the usually po-faced ‘X-Men’ and ‘Wolverine’ films.

‘Deadpool’ took a long time for star Reynolds and director Tim Miller to get off the ground precisely because the only way to do the character justice was to make the film R-rated.

While it’s unlikely that a mainline ‘X-Men’ film will get an R-rating any time soon (if ever), for ‘Wolverine 3′ it makes sense. The character - who is prone to violent fits of rage - has always felt slightly hampered by ratings more suited to a younger audience.

The news also opens up the possibility of Reynolds appearing as the wise-cracking Merc With a Mouth in Hugh Jackman’s farewell to the character he has played for 16 years. The two are often paired up on the page, and fans would love to see that on the big screen.

‘The Wolverine 3′ is set for release on 2 March 2017.

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Picture Credits: 20th Century Fox.