Will DC Make R-Rated Superhero Films?


The box office success of Deadpool last month proved that R-rated and mature comic book adaptations can thrive amongst moviegoers and return huge grosses.

But what does that mean for the likes of Marvel Studios and Warner Bros., each of which own comic book commodities? Will they follow suit and release their own R-rated comic-book movies? Well Warner Bros. producer Charles Roven has now come out and explained why the studio won’t be doing that, as he believes that the DC Cinematic Universe should be set in a PG-13 environment that firmly appeals to as wide an audience as possible.

Speaking to Collider, Charles Roven explained, “I think that the DC Justice League characters, particularly because so many of them are so iconographic, have been around for so long and for so many generations have grown up with them, and that are still growing up with them, I think we want to present them, when we finally present them, to the broadest possible audience that we can.”

Roven continued, “I think that’s why we’ve planned on making these movies PG-13. I’m not seeing any real reason to change. We’ve made some pretty edgy films that are rated PG-13. You never want to say ‘never’ because we all evolve, but right now I think we’re staying that course.”

Ever since the huge success of Deadpool, which has grossed over $730 million at the box office following its release on February 12, there have been rumors and speculation that Warner Bros. might change the tone and content of some of their movies to make them more mature and R-rated.

There were even rumors that Suicide Squad might be turned into an R-rated film, while it has since been announced that an R-rated version of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice will be available as part of the home entertainment release.

It was immediately speculated that the release of the R-rated Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice was in response to Deadpool’s box office triumph. However, producer Deborah Snyder and director Zack Snyder have now insisted to The Hollywood Reporter that they’d already planned on releasing this version for quite some time.

Deborah Snyder explained, “Online, everyone’s like, ‘Oh, they’re doing an R-rated in reaction to Deadpool,’ and you’re like (laughing), ‘We didn’t just shoot it last week, and we also didn’t edit it last week.'”

This then provoked Zack Snyder to add, “The why of that is [the DVD version] is a half-hour longer, and some of that additional material is some of the stuff we took out for the rating. I was like, ‘Cool, I can put it back in for the director’s cut.’ There was nothing by design. This was the material I just put back in, and then when [the MPAA] looked at it again, they were like, ‘Oh, now the movie’s rated R.’ And, by the way, it’s not a hard R. There’s no nudity. There’s a little bit of violence. It just tips the scale.”

We’ll finally get a chance to see Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice at the end of this week, when it’s released into cinemas. The blockbuster is set just after the events of Man Of Steel, and it sees Ben Affleck’s Batman traveling from Gotham to Metropolis to fight Henry Cavill’s Superman, as he is fearful of what the alien will do to Earth if he is kept unchecked. Meanwhile, Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor looks to pit the two heroes against one another with the help of another alien creature.

[Image via Warner Bros.]

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