'WandaVision': Disney+'s PG Rating Has Left Some Potential Viewers Skeptical

WandaVision has finally hit Disney+, and Marvel fans are excited. While the show has been highly anticipated for quite some time, there is one aspect of it some might find concerning.

Most Marvel films are rated PG-13 while this show is rated TV-PG. TV and movie ratings differ slightly, but there may be some fans who think WandaVision isn’t going to take risks because of this to preserve its more family-friendly rating.

Let’s take a look at the show’s premise, the ratings of other Marvel shows in the past, and whether the show’s PG rating will have any bearing on its quality. 

The premise of ‘WandaVision’

WandaVision is the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after a slow year for the franchise. COVID-19 forced Marvel to delay all of its new movies and streaming series to 2021 and beyond.

WandaVision got a November 2020 release date only to be pushed back to January 2021. Now it’s out on Disney+, marking the first MCU show or movie to premiere since the last Spider-Man film. 

The premise of the show centers on the continuing adventures of Wanda and Vision. In this show, they seem to be set in the universe (or universes) of multiple classic sitcoms. Thus far, the shows have all the features of some sitcoms from TV’s golden era like Bewitched or The Dick Van Dyke Show. Clearly, something is not what it seems and the show will soon reveal exactly what is going on.

There has to be some explanation for whatever alternate dimension or state the duo finds themselves in, as Vision was presumably killed during the events of Avengers: Infinity War. 

The squeaky clean sitcom format lends itself to clean humor, which is probably why the show has achieved a PG rating. 

How Marvel shows have been rated in the past

Some of Marvel’s TV shows in the past have qualified for a PG rating. Some that likely wouldn’t have were the Netflix shows.

Shows like Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and The Defenders dealt with more mature themes and often featured more violence and adult language. Those shows differ from WandaVision in some important ways: 

• They had a much grittier, darker tone. WandaVision’s tone is more upbeat (for the moment), and anything beyond PG likely wouldn’t work for what the show is going for right now. 
• WandaVision is on Disney+. Disney is known as a company to cater to more family-friendly content, whereas Netflix has content of all kinds on its platform. 

But what do Marvel fans think of the show’s somewhat tame rating? 

How Disney+’s PG rating of ‘WandaVision’ has some viewers skeptical

Some Marvel fans may be a bit skeptical of the more family-friendly rating. A Reddit thread discussing the show’s rating went into detail about what fans think. One fan pointed out that a PG rating on TV is much different from a PG rating in theaters: 

“I have seen alot of people saying they are losing interest in Wandavision cause of it’s PG rating so I want to remind you guys that PG is way different on TV then in the big screen. The first few episodes of the Mandolarian were PG and they were pretty violent I expect the show to become TV-14 as it gradually goes on.”

Someone else said that the rating tracks with what they expected: 

“Honestly because of the shows setting and theme I kinda just assumed it would be a pg.

I’m not expecting any gore, nudity, bad language etc..”

It’s important to remember that a show’s rating is not a statement of its quality. Having adult language or violence doesn’t inherently make a show good — just as being family-friendly doesn’t make it inherently bad. What matters is the story and character development.

Marvel fans may love WandaVision. They may not. But it’s safe to say the rating won’t have much impact on their opinions. 

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