With Logan proving to be a smashing success both with critics and at the box office, it seems that R-rated comic book movies are about to become very popular. Deadpool paved the way last year and now, with Hugh Jackman’s final outing as Wolvie turning heads, studios are realizing that you can go darker and more mature and still make a healthy profit.
It’s certainly an exciting time to be a fan of some of the more adult-oriented comic books out there, and one which will be coming to the big screen soon is Spawn. Though the property has already been adapted before, back in 1997, the result was pretty underwhelming and as such, fans are looking forward to seeing another take on it. It’s still early days on the project, but it’s definitely moving along and at Emerald City Comic-Con this past weekend, creator Todd McFarlane delivered an update.
“Listen, I’m going to paint it for you. The movie is going to be a dark R…If here’s PG-13 and here’s Deadpool and here’s Logan, we’re going to be here. It’s going to be dark. It’s going to be nasty.”
This isn’t the first time McFarlane’s talked about heading down a darker route with the film, but it’s still reassuring to hear. For a property like Spawn, you’ve got to go hard R, there’s really no other way to do it. Unfortunately, we don’t know much more about the project at the moment other than that, but at the very least, it sounds like they’re on the right track.
Previously described as The Departed meets Paranormal Activity, we imagine that with the success of Logan, an R-rated comic book movie like Spawn will be pushed into production pretty quickly, as there’ll no doubt be a lot of interest in it. Mark our words, every studio is going to be clamoring for more mature properties now and that can only be a good thing for audiences. Not that there’s anything wrong with the stuff Marvel and DC put out, but admittedly, we could use a change, and films like Logan and Deadpool both feel extremely refreshing in the current cinematic climate.
What do you think, though? Is R-rated the way to go, or are you still finding enjoyment in PG-13 comic book movies? Sound off in the usual place with your thoughts!