“If this is true, I wonder how the fudge it would affect Deadpool?”
That was the potentially alarming question raised by Ryan Reynolds back in November, when Disney and 21st Century Fox were still knee-deep in negotiations. Four weeks later, and now that the Disney-Fox merger has been made official, acting CEO Bob Iger has allayed fears that Deadpool is suddenly in danger of becoming a bright and breezy franchise for the entire family.
In a call to investors (via The Hollywood Reporter), Bob Iger stressed that the future of Deadpool – and its R rating, in particular – will be largely unaffected by today’s news. Not only that, but it seems the Mouse House is not opposed to releasing R-rated comic book movies, especially after the way audiences responded to Deadpool and James Mangold’s Logan.
It [Deadpool] clearly has been and will be Marvel branded. But we think there might be an opportunity for a Marvel-R brand for something like Deadpool. As long as we let the audiences know what’s coming, we think we can manage that fine.
Nevertheless, this is a reassuring statement from Iger, who also agreed to a new deal that will see him hold the role of Disney’s CEO and Chairman through 2021. Because with The New Mutants, Dark Phoenix, Deadpool 2 and a Laura-centric X-23 spinoff all gestating in various stages of development, Fox’s movie slate is nothing if not diverse, and it’d be disheartening to see Disney interfere with that lineup in the name of corporate consolidation.
Next up for the Merc is the launch of the so-far untitled Deadpool 2, which has its crosshairs trained on June 1st, 2018. Barring last month’s Thanksgiving-themed teaser, we’ve yet to really catch a glimpse of David Leitch’s sequel in action, but there is a Michaelangelo-inspired painting to keep us ticking over.