Ever since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, the Star Wars universe has considerably expanded onscreen past the core Skywalker Saga and the odd animated sequence. Not solely is a large catalog of tv reveals set in a galaxy far, distant that may be considered with a Disney+ subscription, Rogue One and Solo marked the primary live-action standalone movies, with many extra upcoming Star Wars films following swimsuit. However one factor this franchise has but to do is ship an R-rated film, and it seems Ryan Reynolds has pitched such a cinematic thought, although not for himself.
Reynolds, who’s tied to Disney lately by enjoying Deadpool within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, shared his rationale on The Field Workplace Podcast for why an R-rated Star Wars film could be a worthy addition to the franchise, and it’s a fairly on-point stance. As he advised host Scott Mendelson:
I pitched to Disney, I stated, ‘Why don’t we do an R-rated ‘Star Wars’ property? It doesn’t must be overt, A+ characters. There’s a variety of characters you possibly can use.’ And I don’t imply R-rated to be vulgar. R-rated as a Computer virus for emotion. I all the time marvel why studios don’t wish to simply gamble on one thing like that.
The person who’s been enjoying Wade Wilson because the Deadpool movie sequence was housed at twentieth Century Fox (which has additionally since been absorbed into Disney) makes level about this. For one factor, he’s had a entrance row seat to seeing a largely family-friendly franchise expertise nice success by wading into R-rated territory, as Deadpool & Wolverine remodeled $1.3 billion worldwide final yr. Not like the third Deadpool film although, Reynolds made it clear that such a Star Wars film wouldn’t be rated R for vulgarity, however fairly to ship extra mature storytelling.
The closest Star Wars has come to this thus far is Andor, which concluded its two-season run on the 2025 TV schedule earlier this month. However why cease there? As talked about earlier, Ryan Reynolds wouldn’t wish to star in an R-rated Star Wars film, however he want to be concerned in its artistic course of, saying:
I’m not saying I wish to be in it. That may be a nasty match. I’d wish to produce and write or be part of behind the scenes. These sorts of IP subsist very well on shortage and shock. We don’t get shortage actually with ‘Star Wars’ due to Disney+, however you may definitely nonetheless shock folks.
I’m undoubtedly not a type of individuals who thinks the Star Wars franchise ought to begin catering mainly to adults. That is nonetheless a mythology that’s primarily centered on entertaining youthful followers, with reveals like The Mandalorian and Skeleton Crew undoubtedly having a extra all-ages really feel. That stated, I agree with Ryan Reynolds that Disney ought to take a danger with Star Wars and see how an R-rated film would do. Disney+ had nice success with Andor, which simply barely prevented entering into actually R-rated materials, so why not see what occurs if we absolutely delve into that realm on the massive display screen? There’s no purpose we are able to’t have the most effective of each worlds.
I’ll hold my fingers crossed that there comes a day when Disney and Lucasfilm really feel comfy sufficient doing this, with or with out Ryan Reynolds’ involvement. Till then, The Mandalorian & Grogu is ready for launch in theaters on Might 22, 2026, and the Ryan Gosling-led Star Wars: Starfighter will observe on Might 28, 2027.