‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Directors Reveal If Thanos Would Have Gotten His Gauntlet Back If Star-Lord Didn’t Have His Meltdown

Even though Avengers: Infinity War was a two-and-half-hour spectacle, there was still a few scenes sprinkled throughout the movie that really stood out. Scenes like Spider-Man’s (Tom Holland) “I don’t feel so good” moment or the cliff at Vormir really stood out, but the scene that’s been most debated isn’t either of those, and the Russo Brothers have weighed in.

The scene that people can’t seem to agree on is the one on Titan where the mashed-up group of Avengers and Guardians nearly have the Infinity Gauntlet taken off of Thanos‘ (Josh Brolin) hand. After finding out that Gamora (Zoe Saldana) was sacrificed so that he could receive the Soul Stone, Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) begins beating Thanos in a fit of rage, wakening him from his Mantis-induced coma.

Part of fandom says that Quill needed to punch Thanos because that’s the only way they could have won according to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange. Another substantial chunk of fans believes that Quill ruined a perfectly good opportunity for the good guys to stop Thanos then and there.

Now, the directors behind Infinity War have finally broken their silence. In a recent Q&A hosted by Collider, Joe Russo admitted that Thanos probably would not have retrieved the Gauntlet back from the good guys if they managed to get it off during that scene — a fact that probably won’t sit well with Quill sympathizers around the world.

“No. That was the turning point of that scene,” Joe reflected. “Again, these are flawed characters that make emotional choices, human choices. Had Quill not done that, the movie might have ended right there.”

Both of the Russos had previous defended Quill’s actions. Speaking with ET earlier this fall, Joe made sure to point out that Quill’s one of the most fractured characters in the larger MCU.

“I mean, look, he’s a character who’s gone through a lot of pain. He’s lost a lot of people in his life. He was kidnapped by pirates when he was 10 years old, raised by pirates, lost his mother, had to kill his father, and in the movie, the love of his life is taken from him,” Joe Russo said. “So if you can’t understand someone making a human choice like that, I don’t know if you understand humanity very well. But he is a flawed character, and that’s what’s so compelling about him.”

Joe’s brother Anthony added that the reason they added it to the movie was to create a vulnerable situation in a scene that included powered humans and alien races.

“That moment is very emotionally truthful, and I think that’s why we bought it in the moment and that’s why we loved it as a storytelling point, because it made him so vulnerable,” Anthony said.

What side of the fence are you on? Are you a Quill sympathizer or do you think he messed up? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Star-Lord will presumably have a chance at redemption when Avengers 4 hits theaters on May 3, 2019.