Disney's 'Deadpool & Wolverine' becomes the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time

The trio of Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and Shawn Levy has captured lightning in a bottle with “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

As of Thursday, the Disney and Marvel film is the highest-grossing R-rated title of all time, surpassing Warner Bros.’ “Joker.”

With $516.8 million in domestic ticket sales and $568.8 million from international audiences, “Deadpool & Wolverine” has exceeded $1.085 billion globally. Of note, a sequel to “Joker” arrives in theaters this October.

The feat not only showcases the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s durability at the box office after a series of recent misfires, but it also suggests that Marvel Studios can delve into darker content in the future without alienating moviegoers.

“The success of their first R-rated film opens up a lot of opportunities for Disney and Marvel,” said Shawn Robbins, founder and owner of Box Office Theory. “It’s important to remember that the rating was organic and necessary for the characters. That’s helped audiences and fans respond so favorably. They knew going in that this wouldn’t be a watered-down translation of a formula which has already proven itself.”

The previous Deadpool films were produced through 20th Century Fox and held R-ratings as well. When the Merc with a Mouth transitioned to Disney’s ownership in 2019, it was unclear if the company would embrace his fourth wall-breaking crudeness or leave him on the shelf while producing other Marvel projects.

So when Marvel head Kevin Feige revealed in 2021 that a third Deadpool feature would retain its R-rating, there was a collective sigh of relief from the MCU fan community. Additionally, Marvel gave Reynolds and Levy leeway to poke fun at company executives, the franchise as a whole and even use the iconic “Frozen” line, “Do you want to build a snowman?” to make a drug reference.

“Disney will probably be very selective in deciding what future films they’re comfortable with distributing under the more mature rating because they still have to consider their enormous family audience, as does Marvel, but this at least offers a blueprint of how and when it’s appropriate to do so,” Robbins said.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” arrived in theaters late July on the back of a string of hits and misses from one of Disney’s most bulletproof franchises. The last film released by the studio was “The Marvels,” which arrived in November and had the lowest opening and lowest overall box office haul for an MCU film ever.

Now there is renewed confidence in the MCU, especially as Marvel used San Diego Comic-Con and Disney’s biannual D23 Expo to tout its upcoming slate of features and share exclusive footage.

Going forward, the studio appears to be limiting the number of series it is producing for its streaming platform, Disney+, and keeping its focus on the big screen. Previously, Marvel had produced nearly a dozen shows for the streaming platform, flooding the market and estranging some fans.

Marvel has six theatrical titles coming in the next three years and three television series set for release in 2025 — “Agatha All Along,” “Ironheart” and “Daredevil: Born Again.”

Both Comic Con and D23 audiences cheered the announcements to Marvel’s slate, a sign that interest has not waned for the superhero genre. That is good news for the MCU, which has generated more than $30 billion at the box office since “Iron Man” was released in 2008.