Deadpool Screenwriter Says No One Knows Yet If It Will Be R Or PG-13

For years while the film was stuck in development, Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld claimed that one of the hold-ups was that the supposedly-pitch-perfect script would call for an R-rating and that the writers and filmmakers didn’t want to compromise the content to make the movie PG-13 for the studio. R-rated summer blockbusters are rare, since the movies are so expensive to make and the age restrictions that come with an R make it difficult to make that money back at the theaters.

Not long ago, though, Liefeld said that the filmmakers had found a way to make the movie work as a PG-13 film without compromising their creative vision. It was that quote which seemed validated when reports emerged over the weekend.

Fans, of course, were upset by the idea of a PG-13 Deadpool, which they worried would be watered down, since one of the character’s defining traits is an over-the-top ultraviolence that’s played for laughs.

Deadpool is meant to be in theaters in February 2016. It will star Ryan Reynolds, reprising his role from X-Men Origins: Wolverine and directed by Tim Miller.