Deadpool Rating

There's a lot of controversy over the Deadpool movie's rating, now this isn't a new thing. We're gonna cut into a bit of history. In the year, 2002-2004 it's about this time, since it was on the Deadpool open forums that Ryan Renolds was interested in the character and was open to the idea of being Wade Wilson. Back in the day he wanted to be in the film and fought for some good scripts, everyone was in agreement that it had to be a R film, but that's not happen to Superhero movies at this point (especially with the big two). A friend of mine brought up the topic of distribution would be more limited, since R movies are hard to pitch,  new franchises are a gamble. Though this was more than Ten years ago, where there wasn't many Image Comic creations in feature films (which Rob Lifield was a founding member). It was too weird to have a "kid's film" with adult themes, superheroes (even fifteen years ago) weren't adult films, even though Tales From the Crypt, Dark Knight Returns, and The Mask comics were incredible dark, though their films being without the very adult themes. Since like most adaptions things need to be stated and certain things need to be focused on for the entertainment of the audience. The focus has to be generated to the overarching idea, like Batman regaining the City of Gotham, the silliness of The Mask's punishment toward villains (or those he sees as villains), and the violent stories that the Keeper of the Crypt tells without much moral contemplation.
Though Blade came out in 1998 with a R rating, but was marketed as being a horror film, not superhero movie, even though Blade's source material is comics. My first meeting with the vampire hunter was on the Spider-Man Animated Series, but they still targeted the audience of the movie toward an older age group. Here's a total surprise, The Mask film was a complete left turn, it's not even close to the comic, it's like they made a movie based on a simple description of the character. Though the film came out well and the Animated series was wonderful, but nothing like the comic series other than the cartoon antics and green mask. It was a PG-13 movie, meaning it glazed over the heavier conversations and just focused on the comedy, it was one of the worst adaptions I've seen, though I'm still trying to finish the Fantastic Four movie, yeah the 1994 flick. Still the cinematic version of The Mask is one of my favorite movies, but Guardians of the Galaxy is the best not to character good movie. What I'm getting at is, the movie doesn't always have to be pure source material, since it's encompassing years of material. Though it does have to take on the spirit of the source material for it to be acceptable not only to fans, but to new fans, so the source material can be purchasable and not disappointing.

One of the major problems is with the Deadpool marketing, yes it's immature, though that's the point of the character. It's your classic early 90's action flick with some late 70's comedy, this kind of insanity is gonna make this movie amazing. Though this is why it's so tempting for those that are teens (and pre-teens), since this was me during my years as a young adult. Nothing screams "Watch me!" louder than a parody character that's canon. One who can literally do anything within the world that they were created in and no one bats an eye. This is a Writer's dream character (or Cartoonist's) since this is a ton of freedom. Censorship is a topic for another day, though implications are high in most Deadpool comics (whether it happens or not, it's hard to say even the character doesn't know). This is great since comedy in literary media have different timing and needs, film is a visual media that has a broader audience, so the amount that one can show in film is limited with certain ratings. So a titular character running around with deadly weapons that are within our reality that are applied and executed in the most effective way, especially with the more modern version of the Merc with a Mouth. Yeah it's not gonna be anything less than a mature rating, for all of Wade's media appearances.

Enough with my opinions, what I'm grasping at is people crying for the Deadpool movie being PG don't know the core being. Wade Wilson was originally a Villain, a hired knock around flavor of the week that entertained fans enough that he made multiple returns. My favorite run of his was the first mini-series where Mister Tolliver died and left a weapon that would be the ultimate conflict disputer. This was the best way to show Wade's moral differences in his character, so after the second mini-series and a few more cameos in and out of X-books he finally became an Anti-Hero. They did this a lot with villains in the 80's and 90's, Venom and the Flash's Rogues, they needed to make them more all-ages applicable to audiences. For Deadpool it stuck well, with Venom it flip flops too often, the Rogues it's hard to say which ones and what generation, though it never held. And fans have talked about this bizarre thought of making the Deadpool movie's rating lower, even to the point of making relevance through memes.

Unicorns are keys to a lot of different worlds and symbols of joy defined by diverse minds.

 Watch the Deadpool Movie (February 12, 2016) and see what Unicorns represent to Wade Wilson.

(Yes, this is a Disney joke, you should watch Star Vs. the Forces of Evil.)

Speaking of, I love this one meme that's going around saying "Have you even read Deadpool?" the first appearance has him being chopped up and sent back to his employer in a box. In his first series he kills a lot of people, even throws Black Tom Cassidy off a plane as the Juggernaut swan dives after him. Then there's the weird, somewhat abusive relationship between him and Copycat, it's mutual abuse, but still it's pretty bad, something a PG film won't get. And finally in the longest Deadpool series, from the 90's (it's the fourth issue and) he's impaled himself and the Hulk. Even if you don't read there was the film Hulk Vs... series that stared Wolverine which had Deadpool in it (I've reviewed earlier, here). He gets his arm lobbed up by said Canadian pal and tries to put them back together, after shooting said friend in the face. In general the weapons he uses make the film PG, till discharged, then it becomes PG-13, if people die there's an amount before it's R, same with bad language.

Honestly, this Deadpool movie should be NC-17 and 3 hours, but I'm a fan, even of the multiple personality yellow boxes, I want to see everything that the character does. Though I know there's a limit to a good time, where it's over stayed it's welcome. Sometimes over saturation isn't great. Marvel is trying to start a novel for every superhero they have, it's a good idea, since a lot more can be said and imagined within a mass market paperback. Here's a counterpoint, have you read "Paws"? I feel like the writer is rambling and not really trying to create the character in the literary world, it might be good, but I couldn't get past the first few pages of him talking about nothing. No jokes, no thoughts about what he's doing or how he can save himself from the fall, and I'm not even going to say that's Deadpool's thought process, since it's obvious that the writer was told the character just talks non-stop. There's puppies, but it wasn't the Deadpool I knew, not even in the spirit of the character. It felt like this was the first time the writer saw Deadpool let alone read any of the comics beyond Mark Brooks' run. Personally I like Fabian Nicieza, he created the character (I know who else had part in it, I'll give Rob Lifield credit for my favorite character, but I'm making a writing point, not design) and knew the direction he wanted this funny man to go. Wade Wilson is a beautiful monster, a fella that has more than a two dimensional personality. Some people try to write him as a kid's show joker, some write him as a violent loony, if the writer knows anything about different type of comedy Deadpool is Black Humor, Dark Jokes. Though in recent interpretations he's gone a little more toward the immature, but this isn't out of the spirit of the character. That's the fun of things since Wade would switch between a serious note here and there, but jump back into a gag to lighten the mood.

In short, the character to the public is a fried taco joke, a bro of the comic world, just a walking meme looking for attention that will never be found. To people that have read the source material he's a person that has a lot of problems from the past (even in the reboot), not a brooding grim avenger, though still a man trying to leave the horrors of his mind and dive into the present, that's his escape. Escapism comes in many forms, some need to keep running, keep moving, not linger too long in thought, throwing their focus on the next adventure to stay away from the one pain that doesn't always heal right, the past. This is why the Deadpool movie needs a rating that fits the person that they're writing about. I hope that Tim Miller (Director), Jay Oliva (Storyboard), Rhett Reese (Co-Screenwriter), and Paul Wernick (Co-Screenwriter) do a great job, since this movie is one I've been waiting a decade for it's creation.

I trust you enjoyed the inspection, thank you for reading.
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Keep well and Stay well.


This was written before I saw the film, though edited after watching the movie.
Spoiler: they totally did an amazing job, just saw it on Friday at 1:30pm, beautiful, it had humor, visuals, and pacing that showed a lot of passion for the character and the ever growing franchise. :Spoiler