Is “Deadpool & Wolverine” OK for Kids? What Parents Should Know About the R-Rated Marvel Sequel
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman star in 'Deadpool & Wolverine'
Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in "Deadpool & Wolverine"Deadpool's raunchy humor is now officially part of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Ryan Reynolds brings the comic book character's vulgar sensibilities to the world of the Avengers in Deadpool & Wolverine, which comes after Disney purchased Fox, which oversaw the previous Deadpool and X-Men films.
The film, which also stars Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, is rated R for "strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore and sexual references." Before it, the last two Deadpool films, which hit theaters in 2016 and 2018, were also rated R.
Variety asked director Shawn Levy as well as Reynolds and Jackman if they thought the film is suitable for kids.
"It’s obviously R-rated, and I don’t want to get in trouble by encouraging—," began Levy, as Reynolds said, "I do. So many kids have seen Deadpool and Deadpool 2. My own kids have seen it. ... It’s never rated R just to be rated R. A lot of it is just the character. The character is very crass. His brain is like a half-eaten omelet inside the skull of a 7-year-old."
Said Jackman, "I’m going to be responsible here. Don’t bring a 2-year-old," and Levy joked, "Okay, fine. We draw the line at 3." Reynolds further quipped, "Don’t bring a 114-year-old, because that person will not leave alive. Anyone in a diaper."
Read on for what parents should know before taking the family to see Deadpool & Wolverine, in theaters now. (Warning: Some spoilers ahead.)
Jay Maidmen
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in "Deadpool & Wolverine"There is frequent bloody violence
Throughout the movie, there are gory, over-the-top violence and action scenes, often played for laughs. (The opening action scene features Deadpool dancing along to *NSYNC while killing countless adversaries.)
There are guns, claws, swords galore. Mutant characters also use their powers to fight in bloody fashion.
Nonstop coarse language is used
Reynolds' Deadpool character isn't nicknamed the Merc with a Mouth for nothing. There is an onslaught of F-bombs from start to finish, plus every other vulgarity in between.
Director Levy joked to Variety, "Ryan has a superpower of being able to invent forms of swearing that humankind has never known."
20th Century Studios/Marvel
There are many sexual references
Another hallmark of the Deadpool brand of humor are irreverent sexual jokes. There are references to erections, sexual harassment, genitals and other sex acts. Parts of Wolverine's mask, for example, are referred to as "blowjob handles" at one point.
Producer Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, told Variety he had to explain what "pegging" is to some people at the company because of a joke used in the movie.
"There’s a line in the red-band trailer — you don’t have to write this in the article, for crying out loud — about pegging,” Feige told the outlet. “I know what pegging is, it’s in the first Deadpool movie. But there were people I work with who didn’t know what it was. I had to explain it to them."
There are some mentions of drug use
There are several mentions of cocaine throughout the film, as Leslie Uggams' character Blind Al and Deadpool talk about the drug and give it code names. One of those pseudonyms, for example, is "the Devil's dandruff."
A joke in the movie suggests producer Feige forbid them from cocaine references in the film. He told Variety, "We were open to anything. Maybe I’m slightly prudish when it comes to drug use, but I was like, 'Eh, it’s not that funny.' "
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