Marvel has rarely leaned into the R-rating throughout its decades of storytelling, as it tries to keep superheroes accessible for all audiences. However, several movies have earned a mature rating over the years, and that trend will seemingly continue with one of the new projects Marvel is developing.
Following the apparent death of Sony's Spider-Man Universe, Sony Pictures surprisingly recently announced it was working on another Venom film, but this time it would be animated, adding to the studio's multitude of animated Spider-Man films, like Into the Spider-Verse. However, this Marvel film will differ greatly from the Spider-Verse films, according to a new report from scooper Daniel Richtman, who revealed the Venom animated film is aiming for an R-rating.
Notably, none of Sony's live-action Venom films with Tom Hardy received an R rating; instead, they received a PG-13 rating in most markets. Hardy is said to be involved in the new animated Venom movie, though in what capacity remains unclear, and it's unknown whether this movie will tie into any of the live-action Venom movies. An R-rating for the animated movie will likely allow Marvel to lean even harder into Venom's violent, scary side, which the recent films didn't.
Marvel Studios only recently dipped its toe into R-rated (TV-MA) animation with Marvel Zombies, which became a streaming success, but an R-rated animated Marvel film will be a first. However, it's not the first time Marvel has given its live-action films a more mature rating, allowing them to lean harder into violence and vulgarity to do justice to their characters.
All of Marvel's R-Rated Films
Blade
Wesley Snipes' Blade was one of the first-ever films made based on a Marvel character. The vampiric vampire hunter was tasked with stopping the vampire Deacon Frost from enslaving humanity. To do that, Blade leaned heavily into the horror of vampires, infusing the movie with gory action and violence that earned it an R-rating.
Blade II
The second Blade film was also rated R in the US upon its 1998 release and continued the vampire violence, gore, and action established in the first film. The sequel saw Snipes' Blade join an elite group of vampires to take down a shared, even greater threat: mutant vampires.
The Punisher
Before Jon Bernthal became famous for the part in the Marvel Netflix era, the Punisher appeared on the big screen in 2004, played by Thomas Jane. The Marvel movie, which also starred John Travolta and Rebecca Romijn, saw Frank Castle engage in brutal R-rated violence and action, which is a tone that has become synonymous with the Punisher, one of Marvel's most hardcore characters.
Blade: Trinity
Marvel rounded out its trilogy of Wesley Snipes Blade films in 2004 with Blade: Trinity. Adopting the same mature rating as the rest of the films, Blade: Trinity saw Ryan Reynolds (who would later star alongside Snipes in Deadpool 3) appear as Hannibal King, and Dominic Purcell as the top vampire of them all, Dracula.
Punisher: War Zone
Despite the lacklustre reception to the first The Punisher film, Marvel tried again in 2008 with Punisher: War Zone, featuring Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle. The movie continued to lean into the character's violent nature, featuring torture and highly graphic violence.
This R-rating for the Punisher has remained synonymous with the character, even in recent days with Bernthal's portrayal in the MCU.
Deadpool
After Deadpool's initial appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine failed to do justice to the character, Ryan Reynolds and Marvel delivered an R-rated, tongue-in-cheek adaptation in 2016 that leaned into the unfettered violence and language the Merc with the Mouth is known for. The tactic proved successful, with audiences embracing Deadpool's vulgarity, helping it score over $700 million at the box office (and multiple sequels).
Logan
After seeing Deadpool's success with a more mature rating, Fox decided to try a similar tactic with Wolverine, allowing, what seemed to be the final Hugh Jackman Wolverine outing at the time, to embrace the character's violent roots. Logan adapted Marvel's "Old Man Logan" comic book storyline, and finally showed off just how dangerous Wolverine's adamantium claws could be.
Deadpool 2
Deadpool's resounding success in 2016 made a sequel inevitable, and Marvel continued to allow Reynolds' hero to run free with his R-rating in the 2018 sequel. The sequel featured even more profanity than the first film, following Deadpool as he and his X-Men friends tried to put a stop to time-travelling villain, Cable (Josh Brolin).
Deadpool & Wolverine
Following Disney's acquisition of Fox, which returned the rights of the X-Men characters to Marvel Studios, fans were wondering how Reynolds' character would fit into the MCU. The result was the MCU's first R-rated movie, featuring Reynolds and Jackman back in their roles as Deadpool and Wolverine. Deadpool & Wolverine had no qualms about Deadpool's profanity or Wolverine's violence, which eventually led the movie to earn over $1 billion at the box office.
Kraven the Hunter
The last of Sony's Spider-Man Universe films was the only one to try for a more mature rating, perhaps hoping to entice more people to see Aaron Taylor-Johnson's legendary Spider-Man villain on-screen. Kraven the Hunter ended up sounding the death knell for Sony's Spider-Man Universe, but it went out with an R-rated bang, leaning into profanity and brutal and bloody kills at the hands of Kraven.
