Why The Marvel Movies Need The Defenders

There's An Appetite For R-Rated Superhero Movies

It seems safe to assume that superhero blockbusters will almost always rely on the endlessly malleable PG-13 rating to bring mass audiences into theaters. Having said that, recent years have also proven that there's a definite audience for R-rated comic book movies on the big screen, and not just in the more leniently-rated streaming world. Films like Logan and Deadpool were both made for comparatively meager budgets compared to their bigger brethren, and audience enthusiasm for that more brazen form of storytelling translated to some big box office wins for the X-Men universe. Marvel could do the same by bringing the Defenders characters onto the silver screen, and as a result play into a trend of more adult-oriented filmmaking that appears to be taking shape.