A few weeks ago, 20th Century Fox announced a new ‘Deadpool’ movie coming to theaters at the end of this year, but there is a lot more to this than it seems.

While details are scarce on the “Untitled Deadpool Movie,” releasing on Dec. 21, the one major thing we know about the mysterious new film is that it will be rated PG-13.

This may come as a surprise to many, especially fans of the character, as the two previous ‘Deadpool’ movies have been rated R for excessive violence and vulgar language, factors that have made Deadpool an iconic character, to begin with.

A lot have people have taken issue with this, as they feel that taking a character like Deadpool and making him PG-13 is an insult to fans of the first two movies. These movies were both critical and commercial successes, so why change it up?

All that being said, I think that there is a more important question that has spun out of this is, what even is this movie?  Is it just a PG-13 version of either ‘Deadpool’ or its sequel? Or is it a whole new movie altogether?

While the studio is mum on details at the time, we do have another source of Deadpool news giving us some details, this being actor Ryan Reynolds, who plays the titular Merc with the Mouth.

A recent Twitter post from Reynolds may hold some clues about the upcoming film.

The photo posted features Deadpool in a Santa hat reading a book to a character played by comedian Fred Savage, in a scene that mirrors one of Savage’s earliest films, “The Princess Bride.”

In that film, Savage’s grandfather, played by Peter Falk, reads to him the story of ‘The Princess Bride’, skipping over some of the more scary parts of the story as not to frighten the young listener.

If this picture released by Reynolds is indeed from the new movie, it could mean that in the film, Deadpool will take on the role of the grandfather from ‘Princess Bride’, and tell a less violent and less raunchy version of the Deadpool movies to Savage.

This would be absolutely hilarious if this were the case.  If Deadpool was getting the PG-13 treatment, this is most certainly the way to do it.  It fits the style of the comic book antihero perfectly and capitalizes on the character’s ability to break the fourth wall.

So now that we have a rough understanding of what the film could actually be, let us dive into why this PG-13 ‘Deadpool’ movie is being made.

Last year, multimedia juggernaut Disney announced that they were in the process of buying out 20th Century Fox for around $54 million.  This means Disney would own all the Marvel characters Fox currently owns, including the X-Men and Deadpool.

Disney has a reputation for being geared towards families and is very much against producing R-rated content in order for them to maintain their family-friendly image.

In my opinion, this is Fox’s attempt to see if a PG-13 Deadpool movie could work and, more importantly, do well critically and financially.

If the movie turns out to be a success, Disney would then have reason to use the character if they start making X-Men and Deadpool movies.

Now granted this is just my interpretation of it, but I honestly cannot imagine any other reason for this movie to exist. The Deadpool property is very marketable, and this will surely make its money’s worth.

While some will be quick to dismiss a PG-13 Deadpool movie, I think that this an interesting strategy on Fox’s behalf, and am very curious to hear more details about the currently untitled film.

I guess we will have to wait and see for sure when ‘Untitled Deadpool Movie’ releases in theatres on Dec. 21.

Sources:

• http://collider.com/new-deadpool-movie-release-date/#images
• https://twitter.com/VancityReynolds/status/1045750002994302978/photo/1