Marvel’s Next R-Rated Movie Is The Real Test Of This Kind Of Superhero Movie, Not Deadpool & Wolverine

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Deadpool & Wolverine is a certified success for the MCU, yet it is the next R-rated Marvel movie that will dictate whether mature superhero movies can become commonplace. With the list of upcoming Marvel movies set to revert to PG-13 stories - Blade notwithstanding - the future of R-rated films in the franchise remains in question. As the first R-rated MCU movie, Deadpool & Wolverine's box office numbers seemingly solidified mature storytelling as a viable future for the franchise.
By the time of Deadpool & Wolverine's ending, it was clear that R-rated films can work if done correctly. The humor, violence, and tone of the film still fit within the MCU and did not feel jarring, contributing to the film's success and begging the question of what will be the next $1 billion Marvel movie. However, whether this box office success is a direct result of Deadpool & Wolverine's R-rating remains to be seen, with the next film of this ilk from Marvel proving to be the ultimate test.
Deadpool & Wolverine Is A Marvel Movie Outlier In Many Ways Deadpool & Wolverine's Box Office Success Is A Sum Of Many Factors Close Firstly, it is worth exploring the reasons behind Deadpool & Wolverine's success, and why these reasons may indicate it would have been a hit regardless of its R-rating. For one, the previous Deadpool movies have been highly successful as action comedies. The balancing of these two genres has been somewhat perfected by Ryan Reynolds and his team, which translated almost effortlessly to the MCU with Deadpool & Wolverine. Secondly, Deadpool & Wolverine was responsible for bringing the titular duo to the MCU, leading many to watch the film out of natural intrigue to see how this was handled.
The film's multiversal nature meant many wanted to see the film to see which heroes would appear...
Another reason behind the movie's box office performance was Deadpool & Wolverine's Marvel cameos. The film's multiversal nature meant many wanted to see the film to see which heroes would appear, an anticipation that was only bolstered by the online discourse surrounding the film's surprise appearances after its release. These cameos and callbacks will have drawn people to the theater, as was proven to be the case with Marvel's three highest-grossing movies since Avengers: Endgame, all of which contained multiversal plot points.
MCU Highest-Grossing Post-Endgame Movies
Worldwide Box Office Total
Spider-Man: No Way Home
$1,908,532,719
Spider-Man: Far From Home
$1,132,937,929
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
$952,224,986
Kraven The Hunter Is A Bigger Test Of Marvel's R-Rated Movie Potential Sony's Next Spider-Man Universe Movie Will Test R-Rated Capabilities

The movie that will test Marvel's R-rated potential is an upcoming Spider-Man movie, specifically Sony's Kraven the Hunter. The film will be released in December 2024 as part of Sony's Spider-Man Universe, centering on the titular villain of the Web-Slinger. The reason as to why this movie will test Marvel's R-rated capabilities is the lack of elements it possesses that will draw in audiences. Unlike Deadpool & Wolverine, Kraven the Hunter is relying primarily on its stars and its R-rating to succeed at the box office.
Your browser does not support the video tag. While Kraven is a well-known character to Spider-Man fans, general audiences will be unfamiliar with the character. This already is a massive difference between Kraven the Hunter and Deadpool & Wolverine, the latter of which contains the lead of two successful movies before it and the most iconic modern Marvel superhero outside of Spider-Man. Similarly, Kraven the Hunter's trailers do not indicate the film has the same level of meta, self-referential comedy that Deadpool & Wolverine had, nor is it expected to feature massive cameos outside of other obscure Spider-Man villains like Rhino.

Related Everything We Know About Sony's Kraven The Hunter Movie Here"s all the details and information known so far for Sony"s upcoming Kraven the Hunter solo film, featuring one of Spider-Man"s deadliest foes.
Why Marvel's R-Rated Movie Potential Likely Sits Between The Two Movies Sony's Track Record Means Hopes For Kraven Are Low

Custom Image by Lewis Glazebrook Although Kraven the Hunter will be an important test for the future of R-rated movies, it is perhaps unfair to compare it to Deadpool & Wolverine. In reality, it is more likely that the potential for R-rated movies will fall somewhere in between Kraven the Hunter and Deadpool & Wolverine's respective box office totals. The reason for this is the unlikelihood that the former will be a hit, driven primarily by the previous failures of Sony's Spider-Man Universe.
Sony's Spider-Man Universe Movies In Order
Title
Release Date
Rotten Tomatoes Score
Venom
October 5, 2018
30%
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
October 1, 2021
57%
Morbius
April 1, 2022
15%
Madame Web
February 14, 2024
17%
Kraven The Hunter
August 30, 2024
TBC
Venom 3
November 8, 2024
TBC
Sony is yet to release a beloved movie in the franchise, and Kraven the Hunter will likely suffer due to this becoming the norm. If Kraven the Hunter performs poorly at the box office as the last few Sony Spider-Man Universe installments have done, this will likely be because of the overall lack of trust in the studio's handling of these characters. Although Kraven the Hunter will offer the chance to see how a different kind of R-rated superhero movie is handled, Sony's track record is working against its success.
The MCU's upcoming Blade reboot could be a good gauge for whether R-rated movies will work repeatedly.
Conversely, Deadpool & Wolverine may be an unattainable barometer against which to measure the success of R-rated Marvel movies. For the aforementioned reasons, Deadpool & Wolverine was always likely to succeed. As such, another R-rated movie that falls somewhere between Kraven the Hunter and Deadpool & Wolverine will be more likely to dictate whether Marvel's future can be filled with more R-rated projects.

Deadpool & Wolverine

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R A follow-up to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 films starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
Director Shawn Levy Release Date July 26, 2024 Writers Rhett Reese , Paul Wernick , Shawn Levy , Ryan Reynolds , Zeb Wells , Rob Liefeld , Fabian Nicieza Cast Ryan Reynolds , Hugh Jackman , Emma Corrin , Morena Baccarin , Rob Delaney , Leslie Uggams , Karan Soni , Matthew Macfadyen , Brianna Hildebrand , Shioli Kutsuna , Stefan Kapicic , Lewis Tan , Randal Reeder , Jennifer Garner , Aaron Stanford , Billy Clements , Ollie Palmer , Chris Hemsworth , Rob McElhenney Runtime 127 Minutes Expand Upcoming MCU Movies