You might remember that originally The Wolverine was shot as an R rated film, then the studio in their wisdom released a PG-13 version and unrated violent cut on home video. Even though, Hugh Jackman and director James Mangold had pushed for an R rating for theatrical.
There’s been hints for years that next film could actually be an adaption of Old Man Logan, the hyper-violent comic that is set in a post-apocalyptic future with very old Wolverine. However, this would be tricky due to the source material not easily lending itself to a PG-13 rating.
ComicBook has apparently got their hands on a promo pamphlet that proclaims Wolverine 3 could actually have an R rating.
We’ve previously talked about how there are two glaring issues with adapting Mark Millar’s Old Man Logan comics. First, the amount of Marvel Studios character that feature in the comic that would have to be replaced with Fox owned characters.
The second would be the brutal nature of the comic itself not being anywhere near able to get a PG-13 rating from the MPAA, sorry kiddies this comic was never meant for you. In the comic, Logan slaughters all the X-Men, not that they’ll do this in the film. It just points out a huge reason why a PG-13 rating can’t work.
Another reason for a harder rating would be needed to help include Logan’s feral origins after the Weapon X Program, he goes ape-shit and kills a bunch of people before escaping the facility. There’s some hope there could be some flashbacks to reboot the origin, and again erase the horribleness of X-Men Origins.
It also opens the door for serial killer turned vampiric super-soldier Omega Red to be the main villain, he basically drains the lifeforce from others to keep himself alive, another hard-sell for a PG-13 rating.
I’ve seen some complainers online, claiming that Wolverine is a kid-friendly character and the R rating would be some cash-in from the success of Deadpool, even though his solo comics themselves contradict that thinking completely. I’d also like to point-out they’ve been teasing Old Man Logan since the press tour of The Wolverine, this was years before Deadpool was even greenlit or even had a rating set in stone. I think people just want to complain about something, and this is their current pet-project.
Let’s try to remember The Wolverine was shot as an R rated film, this isn’t suddenly a Deadpool thing. Although, I’m sure Deadpool‘s success might nudge the studio to kick-in a bigger marketing effort.
Wolverine 3 is rumored to be shooting in New Orleans and New Mexico in April, with an official release date set for March 3rd, 2017.
SOURCE: COMICBOOK