Kevin Feige Shares His Thoughts on DEADPOOL, R-Rated Marvel Film, and Solo HULK Movie
A lot of people were shocked by how well Deadpool did at the box office. Not even Fox was expecting to see that happen. They didn’t think it would do very well, which is why they didn’t do anything with it for so long. Well, Tim Miller, Ryan Reynolds, and the creative team of the movie sure did prove them wrong. Now the studio has a whole new moneymaking franchise on their hands!
During an interview with Deadline, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige shared his thoughts on the film, and he understands exactly why it connected with critics and audiences. In case you’re wondering if Marvel Studios will ever develop an R-rated movie, he says there have been no discussions about it, and explains:
"No, we’ve not had any specific conversations about that. And that is only part of the takeaway from Deadpool. The thing that Deadpool shows is, when you present something unique to an audience, they will respond to it. When you present something as popular as a superhero character, in a different and unique and crazy way as they did in Deadpool, it demands attention and audiences went to it. They pulled it off. Tim Miller did a tremendous job. The other secret, and why it’s still a secret, I don’t know, but they just took what Deadpool is in the comics. He breaks the fourth wall. He talks into the camera. He doesn’t give a sh*t about any of the other heroes. He doesn’t take anything seriously. All of that is what made Deadpool so popular in the comics. Tim and his writers and Ryan Reynolds were able to get that and even magnify that up on the big screen. We’ve always said if there’s any 'secret' it’s respect the source material, understand the source material and then, any adaptation you make from the source material should be done only to enhance whatever the original pure spirit of the source material was. Deadpool hit on all cylinders with that."
The closest thing that I think we’ll ever get to an R-rated Marvel production is what we are seeing in the Netflix series with Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Those have been pretty brutal, and I’m sure that will continue with Luke Cage, The Punisher, Iron Fist, and The Defenders. I’m ok with Marvel Studios making PG-13 movies with the characters they’ve been working with. It works.
Then the Hulk came up. Fans would obviously love to see a solo Hulk film, but due to the rights issues, that’s not going to happen unless Marvel and Universal can work out some kind of deal. Feige explains:
"Well, those are contractual things that I’m not entirely attuned to. Disney and Universal would need to come to an agreement to allow Marvel to do a standalone Hulk film for Disney. What’s so great, and as you just said, Ruffalo lights up any room he’s in, any Twitter feed he’s engaged in and any movie that he’s in. It’s just a great pleasure to have him in The Avengers films and as you know his next appearance will be in Thor: Ragnarok, which is a whole other type of fun Hulk adventure for him that we can’t wait to get started on."
We might not be getting a solo Hulk film anytime soon, but at least they still get to play with him in the universe. It sounds like we’re going to get to see plenty of the Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok. It might be the most screen time the character will have had in any Marvel film so far.