Last year, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 became the first MCU movie to feature an f-bomb. The word is rarely used in PG-13 movies and certainly not something we've never heard in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Disney calling the shots.
It was actually Matthew Vaughn who took advantage of the ability to use "f*ck" in a PG-13 title when Hugh Jackman's Wolverine told Professor X and Magneto to "f*ck off" in 2011's X-Men: First Class. Was the MCU's effort worth the wait?
That's up for debate, though it was undeniably funny. When Nebula can't figure out how to open a car door, Star-Lord loses his temper and shouts at her, "Open the f*cking door!"
A fan recently asked Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 writer and director James Gunn why he didn't give the f-bomb to Rocket, suggesting the Guardian could have declared himself "Rocken F*ckin' Racoon" during his clash with the High Evolutionary.
"No I didn't [consider that]," Gunn said on Threads. "I gave the line to Chris on the day. I found it fun to break that barrier in a throwaway situation where it didn't matter as opposed to one where we were relying on the word for weight."
"I think Rocket accepting himself as who [he] is (raccoon by species, Rocket by choice – just as we're all a mix of what fate's given us and who we choose to be) is maybe the most important moment in the three films and it might have been diminished by everyone focusing on the F-word."
Last year, Chris Pratt revealed that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige initially objected to the line, only to learn Gunn was keen to ensure it made it into the final cut.
"From my understanding, the story goes that Kevin Feige talked to James Gunn and said 'Listen, you don't want to be the guy who's known for having the first F-word in your movie,'" the actor explained. "And James is like, 'Yes, I do!' Don't you know me?! That's exactly what I want!' And so, they kept it in."
"It's not the first one I've tried to get into the movie. I think everybody's tried, you know?" Pratt continued. "With a PG-13 movie, you typically get two s-words, and usually don't get [an f-word] but maybe you can get one f-word. So everyone's always lobbying, you know? Throwing out an improv to get it in there."
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now streaming on Disney+.