Marvel Fan Film Examines ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Snap Effect on Rest of World, Blames Star-Lord & Thor

A not-quite-serious fan film explores how Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) snap that erased half of all life in the universe in Avengers: Infinity War affected the surviving Marvel Cinematic Universe, blaming Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) for the ensuing tragedy.

The distraught Guardians of the Galaxy leader lashed out and attacked Thanos after learning he murdered Star-Lord’s lover, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), sacrificing her on Vormir to unlock the Soul Stone — one of the six coveted Infinity Stones Thanos required to bring balance to the universe.

Star-Lord’s outburst interrupted the trance Mantis (Pom Klementieff) had on Thanos that allowed Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Drax (Dave Bautista) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) to nearly free the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos’ paw, allowing him to escape Titan with five of the six Infinity Stones.

Thanos then traveled to Wakanda, where he confronted and easily defeated the Avengers. After murdering Vision (Paul Bettany) and reclaiming the Mind Stone from his corpse, Thanos wielded the full might of the Infinity Stones — and would have been slain by a just-arrived Thor had the Asgardian Avenger opted for the killing blow instead of relishing in his revenge.

Because Thor neglected to go for the killing blow and take out Thanos’ head, he was able to snap his fingers and obliterate half of all life in the universe.

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have since defended both Star-Lord and Thor, saying the blame is equally shared by Earth’s mightiest heroes, who failed to come together following their schism in Captain America: Civil War.

“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 told ET.

“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.”

Added Anthony Russo, “There’s lots of choices that characters have made throughout the movie that sort of led them to lose. It wasn’t simply that moment.”

The rift between Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man was “sort of a basis for why they lose” in Infinity War, Russo added, meaning Earth’s defenders will have to mend before they can hope to avenge their fallen comrades.

Avengers 4 opens May 3.