James Gunn Talks About Why He Gave the MCU's First F-Bomb to Peter Quill in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was a huge hit with fans of the MCU. It was a great ending to a fan-favorite trilogy, and it marked the end of director James Gunn’s era at Marvel, as he became the head of DC as that film was wrapping up. The movie also went down as the first Marvel movie in history to have a character say the F word. Fans had heard that it was coming, and some wondered if it would be the cantankerous character Rocket (Bradley Cooper) who would say it, as the movie was revealed to be all about his backstory. But it ended up being said by Pete Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt).
In a recent conversation on Threads, Gunn was asked about the choice, and whether or not Rocket was considered for the line, and he explained:
"No I didn't. 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 is 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."
Chris Pratt was just as on board to say the line as Gunn was to have him say it. He recalled the time MCU boss Kevin Feige warned Gunn about the risk of adding it in, previously explaining on Jimmy Kimmel Live!:
"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."
He went on to add:
"It's not the first one I've tried to get into the movie. I think everybody's tried, you know? 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."
I don’t think it hurt the integrity of the actor, director, or movie one bit. It fit the tone of the movie and the moment, and though we could have lived without it, it was just fine to keep in. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now streaming Disney+
via: CB