In Marvel Studios' movies, cursing is usually a no-no; just ask Captain America from Avengers: Age of Ultron, who made it clear clean language would always be the order of the day. However, there have been some partially profane moments, especially in Tom Holland's Spider-Man flicks. Amusingly, the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer continues this naughty Marvel Cinematic Universe tradition.
Our first taste of Pete not being a Boy Scout came when he yelled, "Holy S**t!" when Ant-Man became Giant Man in Captain America: Civil War, grabbing War Machine in the airport battle. However, it was kicked up a notch in Spider-Man: Homecoming as Marisa Tomei's Aunt May dropped the f-bomb when she walked in on Pete in the wall-crawler suit, unmasked. She yelled "What the f--!" before the movie smash-cut to the end credits, adding an unexpectedly funny twist to a life-changing moment for the web-crawler.
It occurred once more in Spider-Man: Far From Home in the mid-credits scene, where Mysterio's broadcast went out all over New York in the wake of the London battle. There, J. Jonah Jameson aired the footage on the Daily Bugle digital platform, outing Pete as Spidey. The costumed Avenger immediately put his hands on his head and yelled the same line May dropped before the film cut back to the credits, retaining its PG-13 rating.
Now, the No Way Home trailer seems to poke fun at these moments where Pete's superhero identity is revealed, as we see Doctor Strange rocking a cutely profane coffee mug in the Sanctum Sanctorum. When Pete visits him to cover up his secret and get the world to forget he's Spider-Man, the Sorcerer Supreme is holding a mug that says, "Oh for [fox] sake," but instead of saying fox, it is an actual photo of the fox.
It could be a nod to Fox being purchased by Disney or Strange being tired of having to meddle with space and time, but seeing as these Spider-Man movies don't mind NSFW moments, fans think it's a clever Easter egg to the previous cursing incidents. Whatever it's true nature, it's clever as it does straddles the line of being provocative but not too explicit, echoing other key scenes in the MCU.
Of course, the Spider-Man films aren't the only MCU movies that find ways of getting around the limitations of the PG-13 rating, when it comes to language. There's also Garry Shandling's Senator Stern cursing out Tony Stark in Iron Man 2, although his f-bombs are bleeped out as Tony makes fun of them for trying to curb his vision for world peace.
We also can't forget Peter Quill in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie showing a middle-finger when the Nova Corps takes him in, as well as how he almost blurted out the f-word when the Orb exploded later on. Ultimately, Strange's mug in No Way Home may be referencing these too, but we won't know until he and Pete discuss Spidey's identity crisis and, possibly, the amusing caption on his coffee cup.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is directed by Jon Watts and stars Tom Holland. The film swings into theaters on Dec. 17.