Warning! This article contains spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 holds the honor of having the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first F-bomb, but there's a better place they could have used the word for greater emotional impact. Although all MCU movies have been rated PG-13, which means they're each allowed one use of the F-word, Marvel Studios has refrained from including that particular swear word. Other, less severe curse words have been used, leading to Captain America's "Language!" joke in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but never the F-word.
That changes in Gunn's trilogy capper, which sees Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) drop the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ending where the F-word would've perhaps been better used.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Should've Had Groot Drop Its Only F-Bomb
While Gunn and Pratt use Guardians of the Galaxy 3's F-word to great comedic effect, there's another moment in the movie when it could've been used for more emotional impact. At the end of the film, the Guardians are standing around and about to go their separate ways when Groot speaks English for the first time and says, "I love you guys." However, if Groot were to say, "I f-cking love you guys," it would've made the statement even more emphatic. This would've changed the context of the word's use, wielding it for emotional effect rather than comedy, but given that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is meant to be an emotive send-off to this iteration of the team, emphasizing emotion makes sense.
There's also precedence within the MCU for Groot to swear. Gunn said in a now-deleted tweet that Baby Groot "drops about 50 f-bombs in Guardians 2." They can't be heard since Groot only says, "I am Groot," which is how the director was able to get away with so many uses of the F-word without the movie being rated R. As Groot grew up, he continued to have a dirty mouth, so it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for him to throw in an F-bomb when saying such an emotional line. If Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 had Groot say the F-word during the only instance where audiences are allowed to hear what he's actually saying, it would have fit the character and the emotion of the film.
Why Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Has The MCU's First F-Bomb
Neither Gunn nor Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige have explained why Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was allowed to have the first F-bomb in MCU history, but in an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Pratt offered some insight saying, "I think everybody's tried." He went on to say:
But yeah, they edited it together and it was a funny beat, and so they kept it. ... 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.’ And James is like, 'Yes, I do! Don’t you know me?! That’s exactly what I want!' And so, they kept it in.
Based on what Pratt said, and how he itted to trying to get an F-bomb in earlier MCU movies, it's something others have attempted but haven't been successful in doing. It also seems as though Feige has cautioned directors against using F-words, but Gunn didn't mind his movie breaking that ground. So it seems to have been a perfect confluence of events for Guardians of the Galaxy 3 to get the honor of having the MCU's first F-bomb.
Will More MCU Movies Use F-Words After Guardians of the Galaxy 3?
Now that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 has broken the trend of MCU movies not including F-words, it may be the case that other Marvel films include them. One MCU movie that will certainly include F-bombs is Deadpool 3, which stars Ryan Reynolds and continues the franchise he led at Fox. Wade Wilson is a foul-mouthed character, and it's long been known that Reynolds' Deadpool 3 will be the MCU's first R-rated movie, so it will no doubt include a lot more than a single F-bomb.
Beyond Deadpool 3, it might make sense for a movie like Blade, the titular character of which was previously adapted into three R-rated movies to include F-words. However, unlike Deadpool 3, which Feige has confirmed will be rated R, there's been no word about what rating Blade might have. If it's PG-13, perhaps it'll include one F-bomb, or stick to lese severe swear words.
As for other MCU movies, it seems unlikely an F-word will make it into an Avengers film, unless Deadpool appears in it. The franchise has long tried to remain family-friendly and that's unlikely to end entirely. Since Feige was the one who cautioned Gunn away from using the F-word in Guardians of the Galaxy 3, he may urge future directors to avoid using it, too. No matter what, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has ripped off this particular Band-Aid and so it might make it easier for future MCU movies to get away with F-bombs. Whether that happens, though, remains to be seen.
