Fans hoping that the success of Deadpool might mean we’d get an R-rated Suicide Squad may find themselves disappointed this morning. Per Box Office Mojo, writer/director David Ayer’s villain-centric DC Extended Universe film has officially been rated PG-13 for “sequences of violence and action throughout, disturbing behavior, and suggestive content and language.” So yeah, while the film won’t be rated R, the description certainly suggests it’s going to be pushing the limits of the PG-13 rating, and we can presumably expect a severe level of violence/action given that the MPAA is A-OK with people shooting/cutting/blowing each other to shreds, just as long as no one’s naked.

Producer Charles Roven previously told us that there were no plans for an R-rated DC Film in the immediate future, with everything on the current slate—Justice League, Wonder Woman, The Flash, etc.—expected to land a PG-13 rating. Now it’s possible that could change for other films, especially in the wake of all this Batman v Superman fallout that seems to be shaking up the braintrust of the DC Extended Universe, but as of right now we’ll be getting PG-13 DC movies.


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Image via Warner Bros.

But this rating also carries another pretty big signifier—those reshoots are done. The MPAA wouldn’t rate an unfinished cut of the film, and while things like score and color-correction may still be in process, the structure of the movie appears to be finished, which signifies that those reshoots have been completed and the footage cut into the film.

Ayer is finalizing post-production on Suicide Squad was simultaneously prepping his next film, Bright, a sci-fi film with Will Smith and Joel Edgerton for Netflix that is intended to be R-rated, putting the filmmaker back in his traditional territory. But there’s also a strong indication that Warner Bros. wants Suicide Squad 2 to happen sooner rather than later, so after Bright is done it’s possible Ayer and Smith re-enlist with the DC universe for another go-around.

For now, 20th Century Fox can rest assured that it’s the only studio making R-rated superhero movies at the moment, with Deadpool 2 officially in the works and a possible X-Force movie on tap. But a lot can change in a few years, and it’ll be interesting to see how audiences respond to Suicide Squad once the film hits theaters on August 5th.

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Image via Warner Bros.

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Image via Warner Bros.

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