Should we ever have an R-rated Star Wars movie?

Star Wars needs to eventually have an R-rated film.
If Marvel can do it, so can the galaxy far, far away. However, WILL it happen, seeing that Disney rarely even shows a twi-lek in a slave outfit these days? Probably not.

 

My main question in regards to an R-rated Star Wars film is just.. why?

 

Yes

 

Star Wars is for everyone to enjoy. Seein' a naked Twi'lek, profanity, Chewie ripping someone's bloody arm off, or a sith lord slicing a poor Jedi to pieces, would be cool... maybe... but would it be necessary?

 

ok, I read more. While I see the reasonings, I disagree on them. Personally, I feel a mature story in Star Wars can be accomplished without going into R territory (plus, I’d like to be able to enjoy the whole franchise with my kids), it’s just a matter of how these are approached.

Some examples I can think of that have mature themes to them while still being accessible are..Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra. Lord of the Rings in terms of war and combat as well as some creepy content. and, while games and not films, KotOR 1 and 2. Not to mention, also within our own fandom, some episodes from TCW and Rebels.

These all explore and have various types of mature content, yet set up and framed in a way that a wider range of people can also still watch and enjoy.

 

star wars horror movie star wars horror movie thats all i want just do it

 

Definitely an interesting discussion topic.

I didn't vote on the poll as my preference doesn't really lean towards a hard "Yes" or "No" either way. I'm perhaps a bit more on the "No" side though, as while I'm not completely against the idea, I would be apprehensive about it.

As has been brought up earlier in the thread, I'm aware that movies like Deadpool and Logan (and even the third Hobbit extended cut) went the R route and were very successful. But those are quite different from what Star Wars represents. I wouldn't want Star Wars to feature edgy content "just because," or to try and follow the trend that the other movies set. If it genuinely served the story, however, then I could get behind the idea. But then my question would be, how would it serve the story?

That said, as Maximus stated earlier, I would go and watch it simply because it's Star Wars. But I would still want to know why the R-rating was decided upon in the first place.

 

would you say no to an r rated commando droid horror movie? DEW IT

 

So a year later I still agree with this stance.

However..

I think that as @DarthSnow wisely points out, having an "R" rating simply to try and attain it like a badge of honor is a bad approach, if there's a story that would happen to warrant the rating naturally I'd be less opposed to that these days.

Since Star Wars is about to be a lot more than just a movie a year (which itself was quite a bit), I think if one or two of these shows dipped their toes into slightly darker content and was very open about that fact, it could be okay.

I still think something like Game of Thrones is unnecessary- profanity, explicit content, gore, etc... not needed. I think Mandalorian delves about as far as we need to into the violent aspects of the series, Star Wars has its own brand of "profanity" that can get past the censors, and I'd argue that we wouldn't need "adult" content that exceeded PG-13.

So, I'd say that the only thing that could really tip the scales of going into an "R" rating is horror. Be that a literal interpretation (such as Alien with Rathtars) or a more existential one (such as a dark take on the last day of Alderaan). I think that Rogue One got really close to showing the darker side of war, but if allowed to go just a bit further we could truly see something unique for Star Wars- even without blood and guts.

Of course, even that isn't necessarily grounds for an "R" rating, and that's fine. As I'd said, there's no reason to make that your target- instead, I'd be happy to see directors simply not need to be afraid of that rating.

 

(I managed to edit @cawatrooper's post rather than replying to it! I think I managed to revert the content back to how it was, but let me know if something's still screwy )

This:

And this:

I'd personally love a really dark, R-rated horror story (probably some Sith stuff?) in my Star Wars

 

Kevin Feige announced yesterday that Deadpool 3 will be “R rated” and “part of the MCU.” Nobody seems to be complaining, at least not from what I’ve read so far. I feel like if that franchise can release mature films, a franchise which is now associated with the Disney brand, surely Star Wars can do the same. As to the reasoning “why” this should be done. The word “war” is in the very title. War can be brutal. I would like a film to show the brutality of the Empire. How about the manner in which the Sith “strengthened” each other? That would also warrant an R-rating. In some of the books (both EU and canon,) prostitutes are mentioned. It adds to the realism of the darker side of the world. That would be another example to go for the R-rating.

 

That's a good point.

Though also, the MCU is kind of an interesting beast in that while it can certainly be viewed as one big connected series, it's also made up of smaller, somewhat self-contained series that have some crossover. Deadpool is already a pretty established series at this point, and by now I'd imagine most parents know where the line is drawn there (though, of course, I remember many confused parents when the first movie came out).

If Star Wars were to get a more adult series, we'd be more likely seeing a situation like the first Deadpool rather than this third one.

 

I am against an R rated Star Wars movie. Star Trek went this route with two of its newer series and now there are some Trek shows I can and some Trek shows I can't watch with my children. I don't want that division in Star Wars. I don't ever want to have to tell my children, "There's a new Star Wars movie coming out! But you have to wait 5/10 years before you can see it.". And if the R rated movie contains some cool or essential fact or scene that relates to some PG material, younger audiences will be left with gaps in their continuity. I think Star Wars should remain kid friendly.

 

Well said. Those were my thoughts exactly. Star Wars was always supposed to be aimed at a younger audience, and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

I have serious doubts as to how "in the MCU" Deadpool is.
I feel like this is a set up for a cameo in Doctor Strange 2 so he can be in the MCU but technically an alternate reality where the Fox X-Men still exist.

 

One of the reasons I love Star Wars is because the stories told don't go in the direction of overly sexualized visuals and other "R" rated content. There's not a lot of blood/gore, sex and overly intense violence. Yes, there's hints of all these, but limited. I personally would not want this franchise to go in that direction.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 27, 2021, Original Post Date: Jan 27, 2021 ---

I totally agree with this. Well said.

 

This is actually a pet peeve of mine. The idea that great storytelling is restricted by film ratings is ludicrous. It was one of my biggest gripes about Game of Thrones. The gratuitous nature of that series didn't add anything to the story. It could have all been cut out and the story would be exactly the same. Star Wars is a genre that doesn't need ultra sex/language/violence to be successful. It just needs good stories.