James Gunn Ready To Fight Marvel Over First F-Bomb
James Gunn is the only director in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to actually give an F, quite literally. Gunn made history earlier this year when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – the MCU’s 32nd film overall – finally featured everyone’s favorite four-letter word. Now Gunn has revealed via a post on his Threads that he felt so strongly about Vol. 3’s F-bomb that he was willing to fight for it if need be.
Post by @jamesgunnView on Threads
The director was asked by another Threads user if he was surprised that Marvel didn’t save the first F-bomb for notorious cusser Samuel L. Jackson.
“Marvel didn’t give anyone the first f—. I took it” – James Gunn
James Gunn responded by admitting that “Marvel didn’t give anyone the first f—. I took it.” The director then elaborated further, saying that had the studio pushed back against his use of the word, he would have fought for it “tooth and nail,” but claims that Marvel was “cool” and he didn’t have to fight.
James Gunn, when it came to Marvel, explained in an interview with Irish news outlet Joe earlier this year that the naughty word that rhymes with “truck” wasn’t in the script and was instead an adlib that the director fed lead actor Chris Pratt before a take.
James Gunn said he assumed that Disney was going to make him take the swear out of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Gunn said he assumed that Disney was going to make him take the swear out, telling Joe, “Awh, man, Disney is going to make me take this out, aren’t they? They’ve never made me do anything, and this is the first time they’re going to make me do something, and I’m going to be bummed out.”
But the director was lucky, and no one from Disney asked him to cut the line. After showing a cut of the film to Kevin Feige and not getting any feedback on the curse word, James Gunn decided to push his luck and ask the Marvel bigwig about the F-bomb directly.
Feige’s response was that the Russo Brothers originally had an F-bomb in Endgame, but the directors later decided that they didn’t want the MCU’s first F-word to be the thing they were remembered for.
According to James Gunn, Marvel’s Feige told him, “If you want that to be your legacy, then sure,” something the director had no problem with whatsoever. Gunn admits that rather than scaring him away, Feige’s words encouraged him even more to keep the F-bomb.
James Gunn And Chris Pratt Were On Board With The Curse
Actor Chris Pratt corroborated James Gunn’s Marvel story for the most part, claiming that when Marvel Studios President and CCO warned the director that he didn’t want to be the person famous for having the first F-word in a Marvel movie, Gunn’s response was, “‘Yes I do! Don’t you know me? That’s exactly what I want!”
Perhaps the best part about the F-bomb in question is how inconsequential it is to the movie. The line comes when Star-Lord, becoming aggravated with Nebula’s inability to get into a ’70s-era car, curtly tells her to “Open the F-ing door!”
Presumably, the Russos would have used the word to punctuate a specific joke or a dramatic moment. Their F-bomb would have probably had some weight to it, but not Gunn’s.
James Gunn just randomly decided to throw an F-bomb in his last Marvel movie for the lols.
