5 Times The Marvel Cinematic Universe Got Away With Nudity

For years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe seemed to have figured out the formula for critical and box office success — make funny, action-packed superhero movies with PG-13 ratings so that as large of an audience as possible can see them. But just because something is PG-13 (and under the Disney banner) doesn't mean the franchise hasn't been able to get a little risqué over the years. Overall, MCU movies may be known for being fairly chaste even though they star some of the hottest people on the planet, but there have been glimpses of nudity in these films.

Violence and epic fight scenes resulting in massive body counts appear to be A-OK for family-friendly fare. However, two characters doing the deed is a lot harder to come by, with it being far more common for a character to just happen to be naked in a certain scene divorced of any explicit sexual content. Even Marvel's Netflix shows, like "Daredevil" and "Jessica Jones," don't have as much nudity as you may remember, as they focus more on gore and profanity than the mainline MCU films. 

Still, nudity occasionally rears its bare head in MCU movies in various capacities. Here are some of the instances where the MCU has gotten away with more than most people probably give the series credit for.

One might assume that early on in the MCU's existence, the franchise might begin to explore nudity with one of its younger, more virile stars. That's what makes it utterly hilarious that an early instance of nudity came courtesy of Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) running around naked in "Thor: The Dark World."

For a non-superpowered character, Selvig got a lot of attention in the early films with appearances in "Thor" and "The Avengers," undergoing mind control from Loki (Tom Hiddleston) throughout that time. It would appear his mind isn't all still there in "Thor: The Dark World," as there's news footage of Selvig scurrying around Stonehenge in his birthday suit with scientific equipment. Since the footage is presented as a news broadcast, we actually see all of Selvig, albeit his private parts are blurred out. It's a clever way of the MCU having its cake and eating it too, by having a frontal nude scene without needing to opt for an R rating.

As for Skarsgård, getting naked in front of people is second nature. He humorously spoke about his relationship with nudity to Page Six: "I walk around naked at home. When school friends thought storks brought babies, I told them how they were really made. I have a very relaxed relationship with my genitals." That commitment carried over to "Dune," as makeup artist Donald Mowat explained to The Wrap how Skarsgård was "always asking for more nudity" in the sci-fi epic.

"Guardians of the Galaxy" has the requisite shirtless hero scene, where Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) shows off the results of his workout regimen. However, there was supposed to be another shirtless scene with Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), as evidenced by a clip in the trailer that didn't make it into the finished product. 

It's a quick shot of Gamora looking over her shoulder without wearing a top. Director James Gunn spoke with Vulture about the context of this sequence: "This was a sequence that came right after they broke out of the prison, and there's a moment where [Star-Lord's] changing and [Gamora's] changing, and he kind of looks at her and nods, and she closes the door on him. Those shots got lost in the process, and [that was] the exact scene that was the hardest for me to let go of." On top of that, this extra sequence would've been set to "Livin' Thing" by ELO, which Gunn mentions is one of his favorite songs, so it must've been hard to cut for more reasons than one.

Even with that cut scene, "Guardians of the Galaxy" manages to get away with a lot more than other MCU movies. There are things in "Guardians of the Galaxy" only adults would notice, like Star-Lord's alien sexual proclivities as well as that Jackson Pollack joke. The nude Gamora scene may have been cut, but it would appear Gunn could've gotten away with it had it factored more heavily into the plot. 

Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) showing off his butt in "Thor: Ragnarok" is one of several nude scenes that changed superhero cinema forever. It shows how the MCU is getting more comfortable with nudity outside of blurred images on the news and deleted sequences. Plus, it symbolizes the less humanistic side of the Hulk, who has been separated from his Avenger friends for a long time at this point. He's become accustomed to doing his own thing, and that includes showing it all off even when company's around.

Of course, Hulk's butt being shown for all to see is also, to put it bluntly, very funny. It's all part of the humor that came to define "Thor: Ragnarok," as writer Eric Pearson explained to The Hollywood Reporter: "It's the kind of thing you don't expect. That's what a lot of people like about the movie is it's very misleading and misdirecting about how it's going to pay off things or how it's going to make you laugh." 

Pearson also gave credit where credit was due in terms of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) saying, "That's in my brain now." Apparently, Hemsworth himself came up with that line. While the audience sees only Hulk's butt, one can assume that Thor would've seen a lot more, and audiences are forced to use their imaginations to determine what you-know-what might look like.

If there's one thing that's harder to come by than nudity in the MCU, it's straight-up sex scenes. Superheroes may share a quick kiss with their main squeeze, but it's hard to come by characters doing the dirty, even though Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) has a quick rendezvous in the first "Iron Man" movie. Even then, the scene cuts away while the participants are still clothed, but 2021's "Eternals" gives audiences a sex scene between Ikaris (Richard Madden) and Sersi (Gemma Chan) where they're in the buff doing it in a desert, making it unmistakable what they're getting into. 

For director Chloe Zhao, this was an opportunity to break the mold. She told Elle, "It's one of the most fundamental things we do as human beings. So to see that, [and] take that stigma out, I think it's a really, really powerful thing." Unfortunately, "Eternals" overall landed with a thud for most critics and casual viewers. In the context of the film overall, the Sersi and Ikaris sex scene could be seen as one of the most cringeworthy love scenes ever in a superhero movie, as there's a lack of emotion in what's supposed to be an extremely intimate moment. 

And while this is sort of beside the point, it just seems uncomfortable to have sex in the sand. It's going to get everywhere.

For some reason, the "Thor" movies have gotten the greatest amount of leeway when it comes to characters baring all on screen, and it all culminates in the blonde Norse god himself stripping down for "Thor: Love and Thunder." Chris Hemsworth broke down how he felt about the revealing moment, stating, "The first time I played Thor I took my shirt off and I thought, 'You know what's gonna sweeten this ... a decade from now it's all gonna come off.'"

The scandalous moment occurs when Thor and friends visit Omnipotence City, with Zeus (Russell Crowe) literally stripping Thor bare among the other gods, with his bottom on display for all. With this kind of trajectory in the franchise, it feels like it's only a matter of time until someone offers full-frontal nudity in a "Thor" flick. With "Deadpool & Wolverine" opening up the doors for R-rated MCU movies, it could be closer than we think.

In many instances, a character's nudity in the MCU is played off as a joke. Butts are hilarious, after all. And with it being abundantly clear the MCU isn't going away anytime soon, there's bound to be even more nudity in store in the years to come.