DC Films Want To Make An R-Rated Movie, Could It Be ‘Batman’?

The huge financial and critical success of both Deadpool and Logan over the last 13 months has led to an increased desire from audiences to see R-rated films of a similar ilk across the comic-book genre.

Studios will undoubtedly be more curious about making R-rated films, too, since the recently released Logan is set to rival Deadpool’s $783.1 million box office total from last year. In the past, there has been speculation that the likes of the DC Extended Universe and Marvel Cinematic Universe might follow 20th Century Fox’s approach.

We’ve now had our first indication that such plans are already afoot at DC Films after an insider for the company confirmed to The Wrap that they will 100 percent make an R-rated superhero movie. But only if it’s for the right character, though.

“One hundred percent yes. With the right character(s).”

This wouldn’t actually be the first time that Warner Bros. and DC Films have released an R-rated superhero film in recent years. That’s because an extended cut of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice was released shortly after the blockbuster, and it was given an R-rating because it included more violent and bloody scenes featuring Ben Affleck’s Batman.

Because of this version of the film, there will undoubtedly be speculation that DC Films might be considering an R-rated Batman film, which could even be in development right now over at Warner Bros. after Matt Reeves replaced Ben Affleck as The Batman’s director. That’s purely speculation at this point, though.

Man Of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, and Justice League director Zack Snyder previously opened up to The Hollywood Reporter back in March 2016, about the impact of Deadpool and its R-rated success, insisting that it didn’t worry him or the DC Extended Universe.

“It doesn’t worry us because that’s what we do every time, so I think that I’m excited that a movie like that could do so well. Look at a movie like Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight. That’s a $500 million domestic movie. It’s about the way the movie’s made. No one goes to a movie and generalizes it in such a giant way that the movies are being generalized now. You could say Dark Knight is too serious. But it’s a great movie. A lot of the early stuff on Deadpool, everyone was like, ‘Oh, it’s too silly” or “too violent.’ But apparently, that was the valve that needed to be turned and released. That’s encouraging to me because I love the idea that the individual filmmaker point of view is the thing that people want.”

During the same interview, Zack Snyder also insisted that there is no mandate for a specific tone in the DC Extended Universe, explaining that their only mission and intent is to make as good a movie as possible.

“The mandate is that we try and make the best movies we can. If you’re making a Flash movie with Ezra Miller, it’s like millennial Flash. It’s going to be a little lighter than making a World War I epic with this feminist icon like Wonder Woman. The films do live in a united universe. I feel like the danger is — and I think that the studio would acknowledge this — when you start to mimic things like tone. Then, when you go to the movie, you pretty much know the experience you’re going to have.”

But what about the Marvel Cinematic Universe? That doesn’t look like it will happen anytime soon. According to the Los Angeles Times, Disney chairman Bob Iger previously told a shareholder’s meeting back in March 2016, confirmed they had no such plans to follow Deadpool and Logan with R-rated movies.

“We don’t have any plans to make R-rated Marvel movies.”

[Featured Image by Warner Bros]