First Footage Of Deadpool In Action Promises An R Rating

Not an April Fool's Joke.

By Brendon Connelly /

It all started as an April Fools joke, played expertly by the guys in Fox's marketing team. Yesterday morning, Jo Blo said that Deadpool was going to be a PG-13 picture. There was the predictable hue and cry. That was the point. Because then, tonight, they released this video. It's pretty much in the spirit of Deadpool as I know it, and seems to give us our first look at the character in action.That is actually Ryan Reynolds in the costume, they promise. And why not. I guess this settles the long-running debate about whether or not Deadpool will be released with an R-rating. R rated films have been doing relatively well at the box office of late, and that's no doubt helped Fox see this the same way as the fans. Myself... well, I don't really care. Not once have I found myself thinking "What this movie needs is more violence, or more nudity, or more swearing." At the same time, never have I found myself wishing that a movie had less. Deadpool is set for release next February. I dare say we'll be seeing a lot more publicity stunts in the meantime. Oh, and let's be precise about the rating: the film isn't officially rated R, not yet, because there isn't a film. This is just a statement of intent. This tells us what Fox intend, not what the MPAA have settled on. So who knows, NC-17 melodrama may still be in our future.