Hugh Jackman And James Mangold Have Considered Creating R And PG-13 Rated Version Of 'The Wolverine'

This appeared in a small mention in SHB yesterday, but in case you missed it, the quote is something possibly worth talking about. We know that Ridley Scott has been working with two cuts of Prometheus, a PG-13 and an R, and will decide which one to use closer to the release date. Has that approach become something that Fox is willing to really explore with other films?

In an interview to promote Real Steel, Hugh Jackman says that he and James Mangold have talked about doing two versions of The Wolverine, a PG-13 cut and one that would be R-rated. This is probably a pipe dream, but read the quote below just for the sake of speculation.

Jackman told MTV,

There's such great temptation to make an R-rated Wolverine. I've always felt that. I know a lot of fans would like that. I totally get it. If there was ever a superhero that was going to be R-rated, it's Wolverine. However, in the last ten years, I've also met many, many 12, 13, dare I say 10, 14, 15 year-olds who, for them, Wolverine is not just cool, you see it in their eyes. He's everything to them. So my thing is, which James Mangold and I talked about, is let's not put it off the table. There's even a talk of us doing two versions, as in finding a way for us to do both while you shoot it, which could be really cool. But you need to have a really good reason to exclude those fans.

So will an R-rated version of The Wolverine happen? I can't imagine that it would hit theaters. Sure, Fox is indulging Ridley Scott with a possible R-rated version of Prometheus, but that's the latest film in a franchise that is, traditionally, an R-rated series. All involved are even downplaying that attachment to the Alien films, so the release of a PG-13 version might not sting quite as much.

A Wolverine film is part of a decidedly PG-13 franchise. (Even if the character did recently drop a memorable f-bomb on screen.) I can't see Fox making the sudden policy shift to release an R-rated Wolverine film in theaters. It would be surprising to even see that hit DVD, but such a thing seems vaguely more possible. Still: fans of the more hardcore versions of the character can keep hoping.