In one of the most controversial moments of Avengers: Infinity War, Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) repeatedly beat Thanos (Josh Brolin) in the face, waking him up from a slumber as they worked to remove the gauntlet from his hand.
Fans instantly took sides on this issue, with a good chunk of fans thinking the leader of the Guardians ruining their shot at taking down the Mad Titan. Other fans, naturally, argued that Quill did what was need to be done. One recent fan theory argues Star-Lord was allowed to wake Thanos because it was the only way for the hybrid group of Avengers and Guardians to end up winning in the end.
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Posted to /r/FanTheories by /u/Riobhain, the theory states that Thanos was holding back on Titan because he already had the majority of the stones and he was explicitly trying to not to make unnecessary kills. Because he was either trying to save energy for the final fight on Earth or the loss of Gamora (Zoe Saldana) was still weighing hard on him, Thanos wasn’t putting his best foot forward.
For the theory to pan out, this would mean that Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) would have had to known Thanos was pulling his punches — thus the reason the master of mystic arts decided against transporting the angry Guardian away from the situation. As the theory reads, Thanos would have felt the need to over extend his power without the Infinity Gauntlet, meaning Strange knew all along that they shouldn’t remove the Gauntlet from the Mad Titan.
Regardless, the entire situation is divisive, to say the least, with fans still talking about it to this day, nearly a year after the movie premiered in theatres.
What side of the situation are you on? Do you think Star-Lord did the right thing or not? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or join the conversation online by hitting me (@AdamBarnhardt) up on Twitter to talk all things MCU!
Avengers: Endgame opens on April 26th. Other Marvel Studios films this year include Captain Marvel on March 8th and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.
