Well before 20th Century Fox’sDeadpoolscored $783 million at the worldwide box office, fans were already asking if the Marvel Cinematic Universe had room for an R-rated superhero movie. The rating doesn’t inherently mean much, but itwouldsignal at least a more mature and hard-edged take on the superhero genre, and there are certainly a number of fans that would turn out for such a film. But Marvel Studios is ultimately owned by Disney, which does not make R-rated movies, so the prospect of an R-rated MCU movie seemed improbable at best.
Marvel Studios presidentKevin Feigerecently addressed the potential for an R-rated MCU movie for what feels like the 10th or 11th time withAllocine, and while he’s definitely not confirming anything, he did leave some wiggle room should the occasion arise:
“I don’t think it’s out of the question. When I started at Marvel seventeen years ago, theBladefranchise was doing very well. A lot of people didn’t even know that it was based on a Marvel character because at the time they sort of hid the fact it was Marvel. So, not out of the question, but not something we’re working on right now,”
Again, Disney does not traditionally greenlight R-rated movies, and you have to go back to 2011’sCaptain America: The First Avengerto find an MCU movie that made less than $500 million worldwide. Basically, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, and the MCU is far from broken—why risk alienating parents who see these movies as appropriate for almost all ages? From a creative standpoint I’d definitely be interested in seeing what an R-rated Marvel movie looks like, but at this point in time it doesn’t make enough business sense for Disney to risk it. Moreover, it’s not like the MCU is going to suddenly churn out a film as gritty, dramatic, and intimate-stakes oriented asLogananytime soon—although an R-rated film on the scale of, say,Guardians of the Galaxywould be pretty neat.
But there is another R-rated superhero movie in the offing that has fans curious, and that’sVenom. Sony Pictures owns the rights to theSpider-Manproperty and all of its characters, and while Sony and Marvel are currently in a deal that sees them sharing the character of Peter Parker, Sony is also moving ahead withSpider-Manmovies of its own without Marvel’s involvement—and that includesVenom.
When asked by Allocine if Venom might pop up in the MCU, Feige had this to say:
“For now, there is no plan for Venom in the MCU. It’s a Sony Project.”
Would Feige and Marvel Studios love to have the Venom character in the MCU fold? No doubt. But Sony still maintains the rights to those characters and seems keen on forging that path on its own. They recently nabbedTom Hardyto star inVenomwithRuben Fleischer(Gangster Squad) directing, and the R-rated film is intended to kick off Sony’s “Marvel Universe”—which is a universe of Marvel Comics characters that Sony owns and Marvel Studios does not.Venomwill be followed by the female-frontedSilver & Black, which hasGina Prince-Bythewood(Beyond the Lights) directing a team-up movie featuring Black Cat and Silver Sable.
If these plans don’t work out it’s possible Sony reaches across the aisle and brings Marvel into the fold on all of its Marvel Comics properties, but I doubt it. TheSpider-Manrelationship is beneficial to both parties in that Marvel Studios gets to use Parker in the MCU movies and Sony gets to use what will hopefully be positive clout fromSpider-Man: Homecomingto get folks interested inVenomandSilver & Black, even though these movies won’t technically be connected toHomecomingand certainly won’t have the same Marvel Studios creative oversight.
Basically when it comes to Sony and Marvel, it’s still complicated, but I’m curious to see how things shake out afterHomecoming.
