Marvel Jesus is coming. As the first movie since the troubled year that was 2023, Deadpool & Wolverine is being hailed as the savior of the MCU. So far, everything we’ve seen about it promises that it will be a much-needed jolt in the arm for a franchise that’s arguably grown a touch complacent in its own house style after oodles of success. After all, much of the attention has been on its status as Marvel’s first-ever R-rated release.
According to studio prez himself, Kevin Feige, however, this isn’t really what’s so special about the thrilling threequel. When asked if Deadpool 3 will be kickstarting a new “edgier era” for Marvel, Feige hit back at the notion that all this movie has going for it is “some language and blood.” As he told Deadline, Deadpool 3‘s mature rating is simply a holdover from Fox’s efforts and shouldn’t be considered a big deal.
“I think we’ve been edgy in the past, but my favorite thing is that we span all types of genres and tones. I think it gets a lot of attention that this is our first R-rated movie, but it is the third R-rated Deadpool movie, so we wanted to stay true to what Ryan has built over those last couple of movies and we weren’t going to undo that.”
It seems what Feige loves most about Deadpool & Wolverine is that it wears its heart on its (probably blood-splattered) sleeve.
“Yes, it’s R-rated, yes there’s some language and blood, but the film is incredibly emotional. I keep calling it the most wholesome R-rated film that anybody can ever see. It really is a celebration of friendship and family and of found family.”
Feige even went so far as to say that he thinks what Marvel has accomplished with the emotional depth of Deadpool 3 far surpasses what Fox did in 2016’s Deadpool or 2018’s Deadpool 2, stressing that it really is very “heartfelt” and “sweet” despite all the naughty humor and gleeful violence.
“I don’t want to overdo it, but for all the R-rated raunchiness that gets attention, when people see the movie, it’s going to be about how heartfelt it is — in my opinion, much more than the first two Deadpool films. That’s what I’m really excited about, once people get past the ‘F’ words and the R-rating, to see how sweet it is.”
Hardcore Deadpool fans likely won’t be surprised to hear this, as their emotional component is actually a frequently underrated element of the first two films, and the character at large — the ups and downs of Wade’s relationship with Vanessa are very much the throughline of Fox’s franchise, for example. Plus, with Hugh Jackman back as Wolverine and 20 years of X-Men history behind it, it’s probably no bold claim to say that Deadpool 3 will hit even harder — and reduce long-term X-maniacs to sobbing blobs of water like Senator Kelly.
What’s so clever about Deadpool & Wolverine is that the actual plot has been all but erased from the trailers. While we know it’ll have a ton of cameos, we don’t actually know what this movie is about, which should make its lip-quivering quotient all the more impactful once we finally get to see it in theaters. There has been some concern that this one could simply devolve into IP: The Movie, but Feige’s promise of a big heart underneath all the swearing and slashing hopefully puts that fear to bed for good.