Producers for the next animated Justice League movie just revealed why their movie is R-rated.
While there’s a lot of attention on James Gunn’s upcoming live-action DCU reboot, the animated world is alive and well for DC Comics.
2022 saw the release of Catwoman: Hunted, Green Lantern: Beware My Power, and Batman and Superman: Battle of the Supersons movies. This year, both Legion of Superheroes and Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham have spoiled fans.
Next up is Justice League: Warworld, which actually has an R-Rating. The movie recently screened at San Diego Comic-Con, where it got a lukewarm reception at best.
Why Justice League: Warworld is Rated R
In a new interview with ScreenRant, Justice League: Warworld producers talked about the film’s unique R-Rating.
Jeff Wamester joked that their “nudity is tasteful,” to which Jim Krieg quickly noted that “there’s no nudity.”
Butch Lukic elaborated that the Justice League movie is “mostly rated R because of the violence:”
"It's mostly rated R because of the violence. There's a lot of bloodletting, sword-fighting, and gunfights. The violence, and then the R-rating's coming from that. Originally, honestly, it's a PG-13."
Krieg admitted that “If you cut out the blood with swords and guns, there's nothing. There's not a lot left.”
But did the R-Rating help give the filmmakers the freedom to tell the story they wanted?
Lucid admitted that wasn’t the case and that they were originally “planning [for] PG-13” to abide by a studio mandate:”
"No. Originally, we were planning PG-13 because DC made a mandate for the last few years of only PG-13. We thought we had a PG-13. But once we got into… the aftereffects, we added more blood, assuming we'd get a milder rated MP, [but] he turned out to be a nutcase and put it as an R."
Jeremy Adams joked, “It’s a 1984 PG-13.”
Going off that note, Wamester pointed out that the original “Planet of the Apes was G:”
"'Planet of the Apes' was G. Look, ratings board, aren't you supposed to get two or three shootings in the face or decapitations and still be a PG-13?"
Lukic confirmed that they “don’t even have that” in their animated Justice League project, and they also “don’t do any swearing.”
What's Next for DC Animation?
This obviously isn't the first R-rated animated movie from DC—at this point, it's a fairly common choice. Though, it doesn't sound like Warworld utilizes its rating as much as something like 2021’s Injustice.
So what’s next for the DC’s animated film plans?
At Comic-Con, it was announced that both a Crisis on Infinite Earths and Watchmen adaptation will be released in 2024. It’s probably safe to assume that, at the very least, one of those will be R-Rated.
Fans are undoubtedly thrilled to be getting a Crisis film, as it will probably be a massive event. As for Watchmen, it’ll be the first time the iconic storyline will get the animated treatment.
Justice League: Warworld is now available to purchase digitally.
