What he does best, Wolverine has said, isn't very nice. You might want to keep that in mind if you're thinking of making "Deadpool & Wolverine" (in theaters Friday) a family movie night.
Over the past couple of decades, dozens of movies featuring Marvel Comics characters from X-Men to the Avengers to Spider-Man have been bringing together old fans while making new ones.
And while you might be looking forward to reuniting with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, or just can't wait to see what Disney-owned Marvel is going to do with this latest installment of its expansive cinematic universe as the studio folds in the franchises acquired from 20th Century Fox, don't shrug off that R rating.
Here's what parents need to know about Marvel's "Deadpool & Wolverine":
"Deadpool & Wolverine," directed by Shawn Levy, is a sequel to "Deadpool" (2016) and Deadpool 2" (2018).
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The film brings together Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (Jackman) as they reluctantly team up to face down foes, try to make up for past mistakes and hopefully — amid the action and nonstop jokes — save the world.
The Motion Picture Association gave "Deadpool & Wolverine" an R rating for "strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore and sexual references." It wasn't kidding.
This movie is two hours and seven minutes of quips and lots of heart, yes, but also severed appendages, savage and unflinching fights, foul jokes, sexual innuendo and enough f-bombs to make Samuel L. Jackson blush.
The two previous Deadpool movies also had R ratings, so it's unsurprising this third installment does, too, even under Disney.
The company's CEO “Bob Iger had said very early on that the other Deadpools were R, so this could be R," Marvel president Kevin Feige told Deadline Monday at the movie's premiere in New York. "And we weren’t going to undo any of the great work Ryan had done in those first movies. So that was never in question."
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In short: no. To paraphrase Wolverine, you picked the wrong movie, bub.
If you've seen the first two "Deadpool" films, this one matches them in terms of topics and tone. If you missed them, that may explain why you're wondering if this one is OK for the little ones or even most teens. It really isn't. The movie may be fine for supervised older teens, though parents should be prepared for uncomfortable scenes and having to explain the explicit and mature topics.
Disney owns the "Deadpool" franchise now, but that doesn't mean this sequel is suddenly gentler or family friendly. In just the first few minutes, there is blood everywhere and maybe three butt or penis jokes.
The movie has scenes of brutal violence, drug abuse, casual suicidal ideation and many masturbation- and sex-related conversations.
So no, the movie is not appropriate for children, no matter how much your kids love Marvel movies or comic books or superheroes. The jokes will go over their head and some of the scenes may be confusing, jarring and even frightening.
Enjoy this one responsibly with other adults.