Surprising no one, both DreamWorks/Warner Bros.' Ready Player One and Disney/Marvel's Black Panther are getting PG-13 ratings. What's more interesting here is exactly why each movie got the rating that it did. Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Ernest Cline's novel is going to be an interesting one, not just because there are so many licensed brands to wrangle in the nostalgia-fueled film but because Cline worked some pretty mature subject material into his story that probably won't make it onto the screen. The description of the PG-13 rating, however, suggests that it won't be all squeaky clean.

As for Ryan Coogler's Marvel movie, the superhero story's all-out action and a "brief rude gesture" was enough to earn it the same rating. Thats as expected. It certainly wasn't going to be an R-rated film by any means, and nothing outside of kids movies get a PG rating these days, but I am now intrigued by the brief rude gesture. I hope it's a new Wakandan custom that becomes all the rage.

Here's what you can expect from Ready Player One's PG-13 rating:

The film is set in 2045, with the world on the brink of chaos and collapse. But the people have found salvation in the OASIS, an expansive virtual reality universe created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). When Halliday dies, he leaves his immense fortune to the first person to find a digital Easter egg he has hidden somewhere in the OASIS, sparking a contest that grips the entire world. When an unlikely young hero named Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) decides to join the contest, he is hurled into a breakneck, reality-bending treasure hunt through a fantastical universe of mystery, discovery and danger.

For more on Ready Player One, check out these links, and be sure to read on for more on Black Panther:

• Watch: ‘Ready Player One’ Featurette Celebrates Spielberg, Flashes Back to the Future
• Janusz Kaminski on ‘The Post’, Steven Spielberg, and Why the Art of Cinematography Is Disappearing
• New Images from ‘Black Panther’, ‘Ready Player One’, ‘Aquaman’ and More
• Over 15 Easter Eggs We Spotted in the New ‘Ready Player One’ Trailer
• ‘Ready Player One’ Author Ernest Cline Confirms He’s Writing a Sequel to the Novel

And here's what earned Black Panther its PG-13 rating:

Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” follows T’Challa who, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king. But when a powerful old enemy reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king—and Black Panther—is tested when he is drawn into a formidable conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people and their way of life.

 

“Black Panther” stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, with Angela Bassett, with Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis.

 

The film is directed by Ryan Coogler and produced by Kevin Feige with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Nate Moore, Jeffrey Chernov and Stan Lee serving as executive producers. Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole wrote the screenplay.  Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” hits U.S. theaters on February 16, 2018.  

For much more of our coverage on Black Panther, be sure to check out these recent write-ups and keep an eye out for much more to come:

• ‘Black Panther’: Chadwick Boseman on T’Challa’s Ascension to Wakanda’s Throne
• First ‘Black Panther’ Clip Explains the Dynamic Powers of T’Challa’s Suit
• ‘Black Panther’: Andy Serkis on Klaw’s Return & the Mercenary’s Conflict with Wakanda
• ‘Black Panther’ and Wakanda’s Dogs of War: The Hatut Zeraze Explained
• ‘Black Panther’: Michael B. Jordan on Erik Killmonger’s Mission in Wakanda
• ‘Black Panther’: 90 Things to Know about the MCU’s Game-Changing Movie