Marvel and MPAA Ratings

[SarahDisney]

Based on a discussion that was had in chat today, I did some research into Marvel and theatrical ratings, and here’s what I’ve got:

As of the end of 2016, there will be a total of 46 live-action movies starring Marvel characters that have been released. Three have not been released and are not yet rated. There is also one movie that was direct-to-video in the US (The Punisher, which was released internationally by Live Entertainment in 1989) and is therefore unrated, and one movie from before the modern ratings system (Republic Pictures’ 1944 Captain America). That leaves us with 41 films with ratings. Of those 41 films:
3 (7%) are rated PG
32 (78%) are rated PG-13
6 (15%) are rated R

Of the rated R movies:

• 3 [Blade (1998), Blade II (2002), and Blade: Trinity (2004)] were produced by New Line Cinema (these are actually the only three Marvel movies they have released)
• 1 [The Punisher (2004)] was produced by Artisan Entertainment
• 1 [Punisher: War Zone (2008)] was produced by Marvel Studios (under the banner of Marvel Knights)
• 1 [Deadpool (2016)] was produced by 20th Century Fox

It’s important to note that Punisher: War Zone was NOT distributed by Disney (in fact, it came out before Disney bought Marvel) and is not part of the current Marvel Cinematic Universe.

What we (or at least I) learn is the following:

1. The vast majority of Marvel movies are rated PG-13
2. New Line Cinema has produced the most R rated Marvel movies
3. Deadpool is the first R rated Marvel movie to be released since Disney bought Marvel

I’m also planning to look at animated films and live-action and animated TV shows, but we’ll save those for a different day.

 

[superme80]

Are you going to also look tv shows? I didn't watch Daredevil, but Jessica Jones was very much an R rated show. I was surprised at how much they kept in.

 

[SarahDisney]

Are you going to also look tv shows? I didn't watch Daredevil, but Jessica Jones was very much an R rated show. I was surprised at how much they kept in.

I'm hoping to get a chance to look at TV shows today.
Off the top of my head, I'm guessing that Daredevil and Jessica Jones are the only ones rated TV-MA, but I think it'll be interesting to see what else is out there.

 

[superme80]

I'm hoping to get a chance to look at TV shows today.
Off the top of my head, I'm guessing that Daredevil and Jessica Jones are the only ones rated TV-MA, but I think it'll be interesting to see what else is out there.

They have a few more shows coming out. I am very impressed with what they have come out with so far.

 

[SarahDisney]

TV Shows:
This analysis is not quite as detailed at the film analysis I did a few days ago, but I still found some interesting information.

According to Wikipedia (which I know is not the best source, but it was easy to consult), there have been a total of 12 live-action TV series based on characters owned by Marvel. There are also a few shows currently in development, some of which may end up being rated TV-MA.
I've been having a harder time finding ratings information for the TV shows, but from what I can find ... Daredevil and Jessica Jones (the two shows currently streaming on Netflix) are the only ones rated TV-MA. There was one series, Blade: The Series (aired on Spike for one season in 2006 and based on the comics and the R-rated films), rated TV-14.
Daredevil and Jessica Jones are both produced by Marvel and ABC. Blade: The Series was produced by Marvel (pre-Disney), Phantom Four Films, and New Line Television (the film was produced by New Line Cinema).
Most of the other shows that I've been able to find ratings information for have been rated TV-PG.

It is important to note that Daredevil and Jessica Jones are the only current shows that are Neftlix original ... all the others have either been on broadcast TV or cable TV. Luke Cage is set to premier on Netflix this year, and since its in the same continuity as the other two Netflix shows, I'm guessing it will also be rated TV-MA.

Just as a contrast ... Gotham and Arrow (based on DC comics characters and produced by WB Television & DC Entertainment) are both TV-14 (The Flash and Supergirl are TV-PG ... and those are the only 4 DC shows I looked up).

As far as animated series, from what I've seen there have been 35 made. The vast majority are rated TV-Y7 (for kids age 7 and older), with Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (which aired on MTV for one season in 2003) being rated TV-PG. Marvel seems to have always had a hand in the various animated shows (although there are a few that were made without Marvel as part of the production).

Here's what I've learned from this:

1. Animated shows will never be more than PG (and even that is rare). That just doesn't seem to be the chosen format for a more mature show.
2. Some DC-based broadcast TV shows seem to be intended for a more mature audience (with several being TV-14 as opposed to Marvel's TV-PG).
3. Marvel's Netflix-exclusive shows are for a more mature audience and include darker themes.

My guess is that Daredevil and Jessica Jones were a test to see if Marvel could have success with a more mature audience and darker material. I think both shows are doing well ... so I wouldn't be surprised to see more TV-MA shows on Netflix, a TV-14 show on ABC, and/or a rated R movie.

 

[flvy]

Oh my gosh I went on a rant and you looked up stats. You're my hero.

Disney Marvel will never go beyond the PG-13 rating in theaters, and Fox would be smart to test the waters more with an R rating. They'd have to follow the comics closely though in the way that Deadpool did, and not fall apart like they did with Xmen. Deadpool was the first stand out R rated marvel movie. It crushed a lot of the other Marvel movies opening weekends, including huge ones like Winter Solider. Fox would be really stupid to not try and capitalize on this fully, and do an R rated xforce movie in the next few years.

Daredevil on netfix kind of broke that gritty violent dark marvel mold open, and kept going with Jessica Jones so I think we will continue to see them put the more gritty marvel stories on netfix as well.

 

[SarahDisney]

Oh my gosh I went on a rant and you looked up stats. You're my hero.

Disney Marvel will never go beyond the PG-13 rating in theaters, and Fox would be smart to test the waters more with an R rating. They'd have to follow the comics closely though in the way that Deadpool did, and not fall apart like they did with Xmen. Deadpool was the first stand out R rated marvel movie. It crushed a lot of the other Marvel movies opening weekends, including huge ones like Winter Solider. Fox would be really stupid to not try and capitalize on this fully, and do an R rated xforce movie in the next few years.

Daredevil on netfix kind of broke that gritty violent dark marvel mold open, and kept going with Jessica Jones so I think we will continue to see them put the more gritty marvel stories on netfix as well.

I'm going to start this off with the disclaimer that I'm not really a comic book person, so I'm really not at all familiar with the characters until they pop on TV or in a movie. I also haven't seen most of the movies or either of the Netflix shows.

That said ...
I definitely think 20th Century Fox needs to capitalize on Deadpool and continue making the R-rated movies based on the darker or more violent properties. Right now they have a reputation for taking a darker character in translating him to the screen in a way that people have really responded to, and you're right, they'd be stupid not to capitalize on that.

I still believe that Disney/Marvel can and should make an R-rated movie. I think the problem they have is that an R-rated movie won't really have a place in the current Marvel Cinematic Universe. The current MCU needs to remain PG-13. I want them to explore one of the darker properties and make that into a standalone R-rated movie. I don't know that they'll do it until they get bored of the Avengers, but I think that would show that they're interested in exploring the darker themes across all media, not just on streaming TV.
I think that right now they're creating a reputation for only doing the darker stuff on Netflix, and I guess I just don't want them to get pigeonholed like that.

So, that's my take on the situation. So far, not that many Marvel movies (made by anyone) have been rated R, and I'm guessing that means that there are a number of darker properties out there that just aren't being made into movies or TV shows. I want to see some of those darker properties on screen.

 

[flvy]

To be fair even Disney has rights to some characters that aren't hard to work around any of their story lines to keep them PG13 at most. (Hunk and Iron Man do have a lot of darkness, but it's easily ignored) They make so much money not rocking the boat that there really isn't any reason too. They have to figure out how to throw some grit in without alienating their fan base which is a lot of kids. They kind of did this with Guardians of the Galaxy. At the time it felt really different from the other movies in that universe. I can't see Disney dipping to far into the R waters, I'm still not sure how they got away with Tony Stark calling a kid a in the third movie.

Daredevil and Jessica Jones are both pretty obviously R rated and both produced by Disney related companies (ABC Productions and Marvel Television). So I think those are the closest we'll get to Disney Marvel being R rated for the foreseeable future. It's kind of smart for them to get that smaller more mature fanbase on mediums like netflix.

Fox has the we can't upset the kids worry with XMen, but with Hugh Jackman hanging up his claws they might be forced into a reboot. They could go along with some darker story lines. A lot of Xmen hits on the idea of genocide and other upsetting topics. Honestly they almost messed up those movies beyond recognition more than once now. Xmen also has HUGE potential for strong female characters and that's fallen flat a lot as well.

Deadpool's success was all Ryan Reynolds (ugh that hurt to type), and his support and nerd obsession with the character. I've been a big fan of Deadpool for a long time and that movie was pretty true to character, and very much ripped from the comics. Not all the way, but enough that the hardcore fans were happy. Deadpool needed to be R for so many reasons. You could tell that everyone that made that movie wanted it to me bad and that the script had a lot of time and care put into it. That's why it felt so different.

Though Marvel angst has nothing on DC (Batman) angst and DC hasn't even touched the tip of that iceberg.

And now I'm going to go sit in my nerd corner.

 

[SarahDisney]

And now I'm going to go sit in my nerd corner.

I understand maybe a quarter of what you're saying (like I said, not a comic book person, don't know the characters), but your passion for this really shines through, and that's fun to read. So don't stay in your nerd corner, come out and talk endlessly!!
I think you need to be the first special guest on Ryno's nerd movie podcast.

I know Disney probably won't go much darker with the characters they have, but I really wish they would. I know that they're having a lot of success keeping things the way they are ... but I really wish they would throw us a curveball every once in a while and show us something we're not expecting to see. Whether that's covering a different side of a character or bringing us a movie that doesn't fit into the "Disney mold." I think people seem to like darker, more complex movies. I want to see Disney explore that.

Also ... I love Ryan Reynolds, but to me he will always be Berg from Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place. I should probably see Deadpool eventually, though, if it's as good as everyone says (although, to be fair, most of the people I know who are raving about it have read the comics, and I have not).

 

[Hunterr]

People often forget about Blade.
Maan, Blade was sooooo good. It's arguably one of the best Marvel feature films of any studio. Even more so that it was this obscure character, and they made it dark and gritty.

I really do hope an X-Force film comes. X-Mens lovely and all, but I always felt they were missing out (Fox) by not doing films based on the other mutant properties (X-Force..X-Factor...etc).

I like that the mutant Marvel universe isn't mixed with the other heroes. It just seems odd that super heroes and mutants with powers would co-exist in the first place. Their WOW factor kind of cancels eachother out.

 

[AyraBelle]

I should probably see Deadpool eventually, though, if it's as good as everyone says (although, to be fair, most of the people I know who are raving about it have read the comics, and I have not).

I've never read the comics, I just know the general gist of the story from reading Wikipedia after his popularity blew up and I was curious who this Deadpool character was supposed to be.
And I enjoyed the movie very very much. The overall sense of humor aligns with my own - just a bit more crude at times but I can overlook that for the comments about how Ryan Reynolds only gets by on his looks and not his acting abilities (said by the man himself) and all the ridiculous pop culture one-liners.
I feel like if you haven't read the comics then your enjoyment of the movie depends on your sense of humor. It worked for me - hopefully if you do go see it it will work for you too :]

 

[flvy]

Thank you, and everyone that is ol

People often forget about Blade.
Maan, Blade was sooooo good. It's arguably one of the best Marvel feature films of any studio. Even more so that it was this obscure character, and they made it dark and gritty.

I really do hope an X-Force film comes. X-Mens lovely and all, but I always felt they were missing out (Fox) by not doing films based on the other mutant properties (X-Force..X-Factor...etc).

I like that the mutant Marvel universe isn't mixed with the other heroes. It just seems odd that super heroes and mutants with powers would co-exist in the first place. Their WOW factor kind of cancels eachother out.

Once you realize captain America was also technically a weapon x project it takes some of the awevaway. I'm 100% for keeping them separate.

XForce is the only easy way to integrate Deadpool because he was more serious there.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

If you want more information on how the MPAA rates films take a look at the documentary This Film is not yet Rated