Will Deadpool 2’s PG version erase lesbian relationship?
UPDATED | The producers of Deadpool 2 have announced that an edited PG-13 version of the film will be released, casting doubt over whether it will include the movie’s groundbreaking lesbian relationship.
Fans praised the second installation of Deadpool earlier this year for introducing Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna), the girlfriend of Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand).
Entertainment website Deadline has reported that 20th Century Fox will release a PG-13 film called Once Upon A Deadpool in cinemas from December 12 to Christmas Eve.
Queer fans were overjoyed by Deadpool 2’s lesbian relationship. (cuteboibangchan/Twitter)
Will Once Upon A Deadpool include the second film’s lesbian relationship?
The youth-friendly version of the movie will be largely made up of edited clips from Deadpool 2, which meet the requirements for the lower age-rating.
This means there will be fewer clips showing violence, sexual content and profanities.
However, this is no indication over whether Once Upon A Deadpool will retain the romantic relationship between Yukio and Negasonic.
A representative for Deadpool 2 told PinkNews that the lesbian relationship would be included in Once Upon A Deadpool.
“I can confirm with them that nothing has been removed from the film in regards to their relationship,” the spokesperson said.
Deadpool 2 has an R rating, meaning viewers below the age of 17 must be accompanied by an adult in the US.
Deadpool wins praise for LGBT+ inclusion
Deadpool 2 has previously been lauded by queer fans for including LGBT+ characters.
In a 2015 interview, Tim Miller, the director of Deadpool, revealed that Deadpool himself is pansexual.
The director of Deadpool has said that the title character is pansexual. (Twentieth Century Fox)
Miller was asked if the second movie would feature a “hypersexualised” version of Deadpool.
He responded: “Pansexual! I want that quoted. Pansexual Deadpool.”
The movie also stars the character Shatterstar, who is polyamorous and bisexual.
Accusations of lesbian erasure
Film fans have previously accused the makers of action movies of lesbian erasure, after scenes showing various characters’ sexualities were cut out or excluded.
In February, fans accused the Marvel Cinematic Universe of lesbian erasure after it did not show a relationship between Okoye and Ayo, two of the titular character’s bodyguards, as Ayo and fellow female warrior Aneka do in the comics.
A Marvel spokesperson went as far as issuing a statement to confirm that Okoye and Ayo’s relationship is “not a romantic one.”
Ayo and fellow female warrior Aneka have a lesbian relationship in the comic books. (Marvel Comics)
In October 2017, queer action movie fans were again outraged by MCU’s Thor: Ragnarok, which cut out a scene explicitly showing the character Valkyrie’s bisexuality.
Valkyrie’s sexuality was confirmed by actor Tessa Thompson, who plays the character, on Twitter in October 2017.
However, the film itself did not explicitly confirm her interest in women on-screen.
A scene which showed Valkyrie’s sexuality for all to see was cut from the cinematic release.
