The Mandalorian Proves Deadpool 3 Doesn’t Need to Be Rated R to Be Good

The Deadpool franchise is once again dominating the news cycle after Ryan Reynolds slipped up in a recent interview and revealed a third Deadpool movie was in active development. With something of that magnitude surfacing, it’s understandable fans are excited — Deadpool is arguably the most popular property once owned by 20th Century Fox will likely be the first major mutant character developed under the Marvel Studios umbrella. The Deadpool 3 chatter will eventually cause the inevitable rating debates before long, with many suggesting a character like Deadpool absolutely, without a doubt, needs to get that coveted R-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America. The recent success of The Mandalorian, however, might prove that’s not the case. Full disclosure, some spoilers upcoming for The Mandalorian — proceed with caution if you don’t want spoiled!

Since Disney first announced Disney+, it has always meant to be home to content geared toward families and a younger crowd. It’s one streaming service where no adult content is allowed in a saturated market packed to the gills with content. But if there’s one thing to learn from The Mandalorian, it doesn’t necessarily mean a lighter rating means a super light, family-friendly product.

Right out of the gates in The Mandalorian premiere, a door on an alien planet cuts someone in half. No, we don’t see the poor sap’s intestines or any kind of disembowelment but as viewers, we recognize the guy’s gruesome end. Fast forward to Friday’s season finally when two Scout Troopers take their turns punching Baby Yoda. Again, we didn’t see either one of them actually make contact with the beloved character, but they walloped on the bag he was being held in, definitely a scenario that makes you squirm.

Those are the two biggest moments that come to mind and that’s not considering the dozens of Stormtroopers shot to death by blasters meeting their untimely end as a victim to some explosion. Now the Deadpool franchise is at Marvel Studios — this writer, in particular, isn’t sure the franchise needs to continue on with its R-rating to be as successful as it has in the past.

It might be difficult when accounting for the language of the first two Deadpool movies, but even then — that’s something they can almost most certainly get around. Don’t forget Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — and Thor: Ragnarok, to an extent — had their fair share of phallic jokes and innuendos. To that extent, a certain amount of swearing is allowed in PG-13 should it not include “sexually-derived” words — you know which ones we’re talking about.

We’ve seen with The Mandalorian that the boundaries can be pushed while pleasing the Disney overlords. No, the show isn’t edgy or over the line by any stretch of the imagination but still, one could probably say it’s not necessarily as family-friendly as initially suggested. Allowing a franchise like Deadpool through release with a PG-13 rating will open the property up to an entirely untapped source of box office cash, essentially ensuring its success for however long Disney decides to continue running with it.

All eight episodes of The Mandalorian Season One are now streaming on Disney+. The two Deadpool movies are available wherever movies are sold.

Do you think there are any Marvel characters that absolutely need to be R-rated? Think it over and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!