Fans of the Deadpool movies were very happy when it was announced that the character's first post-20th Century Fox movie would be rated R. Comics can be rather violent and the target audience of lots of characters are now adults. Some of these harder-edged characters need an approach that doesn't fit in with the usual MCU fare. The MCU has done a great job with a lot of characters and some of them need to be in an R-rated movie.
The MCU has done a great job with a lot of characters and some of them need to be in R-rated movies. Even the biggest MCU fans are sometimes annoyed with some of the decisions made by creators and making some characters more kid-friendly would definitely not serve certain characters.
10 Black Widow
Black Widow is finally getting her own MCU movie, something she's deserved for a long time but the fact that it's not R rated is kind of strange. Black Widow is one of the best spies in comics and her past as an assassin means she doesn't have a lot of qualms when it comes to killing. For her movie to be a more run of the mill superhero movie is pretty disappointing, to say the least.
Black Widow's skills and life would be best served in a movie that didn't have to pull its punches and showing her dealing with more extreme threats with her very particular skills seems like a match made in heaven.
9 Nick Fury
Let's be frank- there is a certain word that everyone wants to hear Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury say. There are some stark differences- and similarities- between Jackson's Fury and the comic one, but fans have a love for his version of the character that has endured through the entirety of the MCU and they'd love to see him get a solo movie.
If Nick Fury were to get a movie, there are a lot of reasons for it to be rated R. First, just to hear Nick Fury say that one word. Second, because the life of a super spy would be bloody and violent. Finally, because if there's an actor who can pull off this sort of thing, it's Jackson.
8 Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider is one of the most powerful demonic characters in the Marvel Universe and a character that fans would love to see in the MCU. He had some earlier movies starring Nic Cage but none of them pulled the trigger on an R-rated movie. Ghost Rider is a character that was tailor-made for such a movie.
He's a spirit of vengeance who deals with the darker, more horrific side of things and the best way to make that kind of movie work is with an R rating. A guy with a flaming skull who takes revenge on those who hurt innocent people and battles demons needs to be more mature than the usual MCU movie.
7 Sabretooth
The MCU hasn't done a villain centric movie yet and the announcement that Deadpool 3 is going to be R rated opens the door for it. A great villain for a solo movie would be Wolverine's chief antagonist, Sabretooth. Sabretooth has been alive for a very long time and a movie starring him can take place in any number of time periods.
However, regardless of when the movie is set, it needs to be rated R. Sabretooth has gotten up to some pretty terrible things over the years and loves the violence of his life. Any movie that stars Sabretooth needs to be able to show him doing what he does best- violent, monstrous things.
6 Luke Cage
Luke Cage's Netflix show didn't skimp on the adult themes and any movie starring him shouldn't either. While Cage in recent years has mostly been a straight-up superhero in the comics, a lot of his adventures have been more street level and those kinds of adventures would be better served with a rated R movie.
Luke Cage's unbreakable skin means he can take any damage thrown at him and if he's fighting regular thugs and henchmen, Cage's super strength is going to make a mess of them. A street level MCU movie starring Cage would benefit greatly from being more like his Netflix show than the usual Marvel Studios fare.
5 Cable
Cable is a mutant from the future with amazing mental powers who uses guns. His star turn in Deadpool 2 shows just how much fun the character can be in an R-rated movie and if he ever gets his own movie, regardless of whether they go with Josh Brolin or a younger version of the time traveler, he needs to be in a more violent, profane movie.
Cable is more of a soldier than a superhero and a movie starring a soldier is going to be violent. Would a PG-13 Cable movie work? Sure, but it would definitely be missing something. The best way to go with a Cable movie is R-rated.
4 Elektra
Elektra never got her own Netflix show but she fits perfectly in with the more mature fare. A ninja assassin who carries bladed weapons isn't going to fit in very well in a PG or PG-13 movie; it can be pulled off but that doesn't mean it's going to work very well. Elektra needs a harder edge than what the MCU usually has and the best place for that is in a rated R movie.
Elektra has been an assassin, a superhero, and a spy. In all of those roles, she's been a hard hitter and has been involved in some rather violent adventures. The kind of violence that would make an Elektra movie stand out is only possible in an R rated movie.
3 Hulk
The Hulk has been in a lot of MCU movies and he's worked rather well but if the Hulk was ever going to get another solo movie (which with his rights issues, seems like it will be a long way off), an R-rated one would actually be pretty nice. Hulk's stories in the comics are rarely actually superhero tales and the best way to do a Hulk movie would be to play up that sort of thing.
An R rated Hulk movie could really get into the darker aspects of the Hulk without flinching—the violence, the terror his rampages cause, and the extent that the heroes need to go to so they can stop the Green Goliath. It would be ambitious and a look at the Hulk that most MCU fans haven't got.
2 Magneto
Magneto was rumored to have a solo origin movie back in the Fox days but it never happened. People love Magneto and seeing him eventually get an MCU movie would be pretty great. However, with his past and the nature of his mission against humanity, giving him a plain old MCU movie wouldn't be the best idea.
Magneto's life has been full of terrible things, both done to him and things he's done. The best way to illustrate this would be in an R rated movie. The good thing is that Magneto is sympathetic enough that showing him doing things in their full terrible glory would show him for the complicated man he is.
1 Daredevil
Daredevil's Netflix show proved that he works best in an environment where the violence of his life can be portrayed in graphic detail. Daredevil's adventures over the years have been pretty dark; adapting any of them needs a more serious touch than any previous MCU film. Villains like Kingpin and Bullseye are sadistic men who have no problems with violence and a movie with Daredevil fighting them needs the freedom to show that.
Daredevil has proven to work best in stories that aren't exactly all audiences friendly; anything less would be unfair to the character.