Kevin Feige explains in a new interview why the Marvel Cinematic Universe won’t pull a Deadpool and introduce R-rated movies.
Marvel recently invited a number of outlets, including The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision, to their headquarters at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.
During the visit, Marvel head Kevin Feige gave some details about the studio’s future plans, including the confirmation that Spider-Man (Tom Holland) would be appearing in Avengers 4.
Related: Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel could be last MCU appearance for the webslinger
When asked about whether Marvel might follow in Deadpool and Logan‘s footsteps and play around with R-ratings, Feige (rightly) pointed out that it wasn’t necessarily the rating itself that made those films a hit.
“My takeaway from both of those films is not the R rating; it’s the risk they took, the chances they took, the creative boundaries that they pushed. That should be the takeaway for everyone,” he said. (So much for an Atomic Blonde-style Black Widow movie then, eh?)
As for Marvel, Feige doesn’t believe they need to up their rating to continue to appeal to their audience. “An amazing thing happened as we started making movies: The world started responding to the movies we were making and therefore we didn’t have to change or cater them in any way outside our own natural instincts,” he said. And for Marvel it is humor, much more than grit, that Feige believes has captured people’s interest.
“I believe that laughter is the way you hook the audience. Then you can scare them. Then you can touch them deeper than they were expecting to in a film about a tree and a raccoon and aliens that don’t understand metaphors. Humor is the secret into the audience’s other ranges of emotions,” said Feige.
And speaking of raccoons: We learned Monday that James Gunn has signed on to direct a third Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and his Marvel collaboration might not end there. “I think James in particular has an amazing connection with these characters and with this cosmic world. So he, I think, could easily oversee additional stories beyond Vol. 3,” said Feige.
Finally, Feige addressed the Joss Whedon-shaped elephant in the room. Whedon is currently developing a Batgirl movie for DC, after having directed two Avengers movies for Marvel.
But it turns out he called Feige ahead of accepting the offer. Said Feige, “He called a couple months ago, which he didn’t have to do and was super cool of him and super nice of him. And we couldn’t be more supportive. We want to see a Joss Whedon Batgirl film be awesome.”