He may be a menace to the criminals that stalk Gotham City, but the film ratings community doesn’t think that he’s R-rated material. According to Filmratings.com, director Matt Reeves’, The Batman has received a PG-13 rating for “strong violent and disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material.”
Though this rating may come as a surprise to those who have seen previews for the latest retelling of the caped crusader, we are here to remind you that even director Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy received the same PG-13 rating. Those movies were ripe with disturbing scenes and imagery, including Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) drugging Gotham City’s water supply, The Joker’s (Heath Ledger) ferry detonation plan, a scene where Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) loses half of his face in a fire which leads him to become Two-Face, and all subsequent scenes that feature Two-Face’s terrifying new look. Audiences also watched as Bane (Tom Hardy) slaughtered countless civilians via armored vehicles, guns, and even with his own giant hands.
With all of this in mind, it’s hard to say where the PG-13 rating ends and the R begins. PG-13 films can still be filled with swear words, as long as they don’t go over the edge with usage. This rule is particularly for the f-bomb, of which PG-13 films only get one before being knocked to an R rating. They can also feature nudity, just not sexual nudity. There can, however, be innuendos made such as two people lying in bed together, implying intimate relations just as long as no nudity is actually shown.
Our first looks at The Batman show us a dark Gotham City bursting at the seams with crime and chaos. From Riddler’s (Paul Dano) maniacal murdering spree to gun shoot outs, it looks like we will see non stop action and violence in the upcoming film. Batman (Robert Pattinson) and Selina Kyla aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) also look like they’ll be getting steamy, so it will be interesting to see how far the limits of the PG-13 rating is pushed when it comes to their chemistry. Even the Penguin (Colin Farrell) is going to raise some hell and test the boundaries of the ratings system.
All in all, for those wondering how The Batman will tell the story of Bruce Wayne on a PG-13 budget, we are here to say fear not. Get ready to catch all of the violence, strong language, and suggestive material for yourself when The Batman lands in theaters on March 4.