Deadpool 3 director Shawn Levy teases the MCU film's R-rated violence and its filthy sense of humor. Officially introduced in 2016, Ryan Reynolds' Merc with a Mouth returned for a sequel in 2018, but the character's future was up in the air following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019. It's since been confirmed, however, that Reynolds' hero will officially join the MCU in 2024's Deadpool 3, which sees the actor reunite with Levy, who he also worked with on Free Guy and The Adam Project.

After writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick confirmed earlier this year that Deadpool 3 will maintain the same tone as the previous movies, even with the franchise under Disney's control, Levy now teases some of the film's graphic violence and foul language. In a recent interview with Collider, the director discusses how much fun he and Reynolds are having developing the project and working with the R rating that the other two installments also had. Check out Levy's full comment below:

“We are writing, rewriting, developing, prepping Deadpool every day now. It is such a blast to laugh every day. It is so delicious to hear and write and come up with these scenes where people are just talking foul. And the violence is in your face and hardcore, and it's very much a Deadpool movie. And it has Logan in it. And it has Wolverine in it. It's too fun. I'm having so much fun, and I haven't even hit the shooting floor yet. [...] I have to say, developing a Deadpool movie is one of the most fun creative experiences of my life because it's not just that it's rated R. It's that it's so filled with self-awareness, and that makes in-writing very, very fun in a way that is unique to that franchise.”

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How Deadpool 3's R Rating Complicates His MCU Future

Wade Wilson and other heroes assemble in Deadpool 2.

When Disney acquired Fox and later revealed that Deadpool 3 was in development, many questions were raised regarding whether the project would be knocked down to a PG-13 rating in order to fit more neatly into the MCU timeline. Fans rejoiced when it was revealed that the project would maintain its R rating, but the rating does create some problems for Deadpool’s future in the MCU. Many Marvel movies and shows work together to tell an overarching story over the course of months and years, but an R rating may limit how connected Levy’s upcoming film can be to other MCU heroes and storylines.

Most MCU entries are either rated PG or PG-13, allowing a wide audience to experience them and keep up with the story from movie to movie. Deadpool 3's R rating will, of course, mean that many fans under the age of 17 may not be able to watch the film, resulting in those fans missing out if the project advances any larger MCU narrative threads. Instead of having large swatches of the Marvel fanbase missing out on a crucial storyline, it seems more likely that the upcoming movie will just be mostly standalone, likely not serving as an important stepping stone to any other projects in Phase 6 of the MCU.

This doesn't, however, mean that younger audiences will totally miss out on Reynolds' beloved hero. While Deadpool 3 will definitely be rated R, it's possible that the Merc with a Mouth will appear in other MCU team-up movies like Avengers: The Kang Dynasty or Avengers: Secret Wars in more of a supporting capacity. It remains to be seen how Deadpool 3 will work within the larger MCU stories being told but Levy's most recent comments certainly suggest the movie will mark a major departure from typical Marvel fare.

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Source: Collider

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