Does Superman bleed? He might. He might bleed a hell of a lot more in Batman v Superman‘s home video release — which has surprisingly been rated R in the US.
News broke yesterday of a rating from the MPAA for the Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition, labelled for home release, and as an unedited, different cut from the PG-13 movie that will be released in theatres next month. It’s maybe not surprising to hear that the movie has a longer version, considering that many have speculated just how Snyder and his team managed to cram so much into the film.
The theatrical release is already two and a half hours long though, so the Director’s Cut could end up in Lord of the Rings extended edition territory, but we don’t know just how much extra footage is in for now.
It’s unlikely that the film goes too far — the R is just for violence — but still, it’s a bit of a shock to see the film have a cut that warrants the rating bump. Presumably, this cut was in the works long before Deadpool became a box office success. But given the timing, it’s hard not to draw comparisons between this and Wolverine 3‘s recent R-rating announcement. Maybe James Gunn was right, and Hollywood will learn all the wrong things from Deadpool.