Kevin Feige Tried To Steer James Gunn Away From Using The F-Word In Guardians Of The Galaxy 3

Before he reimagines DC's on-screen universe, James Gunn is wrapping up his Marvel Cinematic Universe run with "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige may well be hoping the final entry in Gunn's trilogy is enough to rescue the MCU, which seems to be churning out increasingly bland projects at breakneck speed.

But Gunn has always had a certain filmmaking flair that's helped his "Guardians" movies stand out from the pack, infusing his superhero films (and television show) with heart, humor, and a unique visual style. As such, "Vol. 3" is the MCU's great hope, and if early reactions from fan screenings are anything to go by, the film might just have succeeded in bringing Feige's cinematic universe back from the brink (unless /Film's Chris Evangelista is right and "Vol. 3" is indeed a rushed and uneven end to the trilogy).

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is set to debut on May 5, 2023, so we'll all be able to make our own assessments soon. In the meantime, we can look forward to at least witnessing the MCU's first f-bomb on the big screen when we do finally see Gunn's threequel. Marvel recently released a clip showing Chris Pratt's Star Lord dropping the expletive as Karen Gillan's Nebula struggles to open a car door. And now, the leading man has explained the genesis of this sure to be legendary cinematic moment.

MCU movies are PG-13, which means there's very rarely any serious cursing going on in the family-friendly franchise. Every now and then you'll hear a b**** or a s*** popping up, but in the 15 years Marvel has been making these films, no one has yet gotten away with getting a full f*** out on-screen — though several characters have tried.

Now, James Gunn and Chris Pratt have finally achieved it, with the director explaining via Twitter that, "you can only have one [f-word] in a PG 13 movie," before revealing that the line was actually a last-minute addition during filming of the scene in question. Pratt has now added to the backstory of this definitely important moment in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, where he elaborated on the PG-13 rules around curse words, explaining that, "you typically get two s-h words and, usually you don't get any, but maybe you can get one F-word." According to the actor, "everyone's always lobbying, throwing out an improv to try to get it in there" but he was the first one to actually be successful.

And after Kimmel enquired as to how the Marvel Studios team reacted, Pratt explained that Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige actually tried to dissuade Gunn from keeping the f-bomb in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," saying:

"The story goes that Kevin Feige talked to James Gunn and said, 'Listen, you don't want to be the guy who's know for having the first F-word in your movie,' And James was like, 'Yes I do! Don't you know me? That's exactly what I want.' And so they kept it in."

It seems to be a real badge of honor for James Gunn that he was the first to get an MCU film out there with an uncensored f-bomb intact. The director is known for his unique sense of humor — one that's previously landed him in hot water when old offensive tweets resurfaced and he was fired from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies, before ultimately being rehired.

Now that he's calling the shots alongside Peter Safran over at DC Studios, Gunn will no doubt have more scope to push things in whatever direction he likes, much like he did with his comically violent "The Suicide Squad" back in 2021. But leaving Marvel having managed to strike a slightly more mature tone with his latest "Guardians" effort will no doubt be something he's quite pleased about, especially considering his enthusiasm after Kevin Feige tried to talk him out of using the curse in the final edit.

Of course, the more important thing is whether "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is actually a good enough movie to get audiences back on board with the MCU. Early reactions look pretty positive and with the promise that at least one of the Guardians will perish this time around, you can be sure the die-hards will be out in full force, probably accompanied by a significant proportion of casual viewers. But it's going to take more than Star Lord effing and jeffing to convince everyone this is worth seeing.