Avengers: Infinity War had a lot of game-changing developments for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it (or rather, knew it); however, one of them may actually be character change that Marvel Studios never really counted on: Chris Pratt‘s Star-Lord is now the biggest jerk in the MCU!
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Warning: Avengers: Infinity War Spoilers Follow!
Fans are having a pretty volatile response to Star-Lord’s actions in Avengers: Infinity War – and with good reason. The most pivotal scene of Avengers: Infinity War takes place on Thanos’ dead homeworld, Titan, where Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and select members of the Guardians of Galaxy all unite for a strategic attack on Thanos, with the goal of stealing the Infinity Gauntlet away from his possession. The plan was successful, and the MCU heroes nearly had victory (literally) in their hands – until Peter Quill went and blew it, resulting in half the lives in the universe being snuffed out.
Star-Lord’s brash and immature behavior in this scene wasn’t just a bad moment for the character – it was a moment that was hypocritically at odds with Quill’s own attitude earlier in the film! During the sequence when the Guardians (minus Groot and Rocket) arrive in Knowhere, and find Thanos terrorizing The Collector for the Reality Stone, Drax is seized by an intense bloodlust to rush Thanos and attack head-on. It’s Quill who holds Drax at bay, giving him a level-headed speech about emotional restraint; and yet, when it comes to the scene on Titan, Quill has none of the restraint he preached about, as his emotional response to learning about Gamora’s death drives him to make the brashest decision in the entire MCU saga.
All in all, Avengers: Infinity War took what had been a lovable rascal character in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and turned him into an obnoxious jerk. And it wasn’t just the way he blew the “Attack on Titan” sequence; Chris Pratt’s comedic riffs throughout Avengers: Infinity War seemed to straddle the line between fun and annoyance for quite a few viewers. The most difficult aspect of all this is the fact that, by the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Star-Lord is erased from existence along with so many of the newer MCU heroes, leaving no discernible path for him to redeem himself for the foreseeable future.
It’s now on Avengers 4 and/or Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 to correct the mistake that Infinity War made – namely, demonstrating how Peter Quill grows and matures as both a leader and a hero. Star-Lord needs to find his way to being a hero again.
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How did you feel about Star-Lord in Avengers: Infinity War? Let us know in the comments!
Avengers: Infinity War is now in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020
