For the past few weeks, the talk of the town has been that of Disney acquiring Fox in a landmark deal and, this morning, it finally happened. And while pundits and moviegoers alike are busy speculating what this may mean for the future of both film and television in general, we can’t help but wonder what it’ll mean for Marvel movies that have a bit more of an edge to them.
Of course, the first property that springs to mind is that of Deadpool, as many of us are pretty sure that the Merc with a (foul) Mouth’s blockbuster probably would’ve never happened if he weren’t at Fox to begin with, nor would have the visceral experience that was Logan. But, thankfully, Disney CEO Bob Iger seemed to alleviate fears by implying that Wade Wilson won’t be neutered from a creative perspective, and that other R-rated Marvel flicks could be on the way:
“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.”
Truth be told, we can only hope that pans out, because in the time since Disney has acquired the onscreen rights to the likes of Daredevil and the Punisher, characters such as them have been relegated to Netflix series, with Blade collecting dust all the while. And even though the daywalking vampire hunter never made the billion dollar club, it’s important we not forget the vital part he played in legitimizing comic book cinema, and by showing there’s more out there than just Batman and Superman.
That said, while we do think Disney will allow for Deadpool’s film franchise to continue uninhibited because of how much dough he rakes in, it’s our hope that they leave the door open for other mature-rated pictures, perhaps featuring the likes of Moon Knight or even some of the characters we just mentioned.