Deadpool Writers Confirm Marvel Will Allow Them to Continue With R-Rated Movies

Marvel fans have had plenty of concerns about Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox. After all, Fox was just starting to go down the path of exploring a darker version of its X-Men movie franchise, with films like Logan and the Deadpool movies. X-Men fans were excited to see where that path would lead (X-Force), but when Disney got hold of things, the notion of the X-Men franchise being added to the Marvel Cinematic Universe seemed to kill any hope of more R-rated X-Men films, and an uncertain future for Ryan Reynold's Deadpool. However, fan fears may be overblown, as the latest word is that Marvel Studios will allow more R-Rated Marvel films to be released.

Here's what Deadpool co-writer Paul Wernick had to say to EW about Deadpool's Marvel movie future, while out doing promotion for Zombieland: Double Tap:

"We're always in touch with Ryan... I think the party line and truth is we're all still figuring it out. Marvel has promised to continue to let us play in the R-rated Deadpool universe, and the hope is that they will also let us veer into the MCU a little bit as well and play in that sandbox. Our feeling and Ryan's feeling is that it's got to be the right idea, it's got to be great… I think once we collectively agree what idea that great idea is we'll be off to the races. Ryan's super-busy, we've got a lot of projects lined up, but we wake up thinking about Deadpool, and we go to sleep thinking about Deadpool."

This sounds about right for where the situation currently stands. Every since the Disney-Fox deal there company line has been that the Deadpool franchise was being debated in the halls of Disney - specifically about whether or not Deadpool can jump between R rated solo films and the PG-13 MCU. The thought is that Disney can still use the 20th Century Fox brand to distribute R-rated Marvel films like Deadpool, while keeping the Marvel Studios brand clean with PG-13 MCU films. Of course, the other side of the debate was whether or not Deadpool needed to be R-rated at all - but if what Wernick says is true, that debate is now over.

In fact, things could be locking into place: Ryan Reynolds made a point to tease fans about a meeting he just had with Marvel Studios - hopefully to confirm what the future will look like.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall of 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If…? In Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021. Other MCU properties without release dates include Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk.