Had the character of Red Forman made popular by That ’70s Show attended a showing of Avengers: Infinity War, there’s a very good chance he would’ve shouted “dumbass!” at the screen when Star-Lord allowed his emotions to impair his better judgment, thus preventing the other heroes from liberating the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos’ grasp.
Of course, this has led to devout True Believers and casual moviegoers alike lobbing much disrespect at Peter Quill in the time since. To be honest, it’s kind of ridiculous because any other character could’ve been put in that spot and possibly made a similar decision. I mean, I already harbored extreme hatred for Star-Lord because I find him to be incredibly annoying, but you have to step back and examine the situation.
Chiming in on this were directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who made a compelling case for the controversial move:
“His mother was dying of cancer when he was kidnapped by pirates at the age of 10. He was raised by pirates. He had to murder his father to avenge the death of his mother. His girlfriend, who he was in love with, was murdered by another corrupt paternal figure … He made a very emotional choice.”
Well, I guess karma swiftly arrived in the form of a bedazzled cosmic glove, thereby adding Quill to the impressive kill count seen at the end of the movie. But again, the Mad Titan coming out on top was a given because, you know, we have a sequel to go see next year.
What’s funny is that the Russos were quick to bring up Thor also dropping the ball, even if he was the most badass character in the entire film:
“Thor also let his emotions get the better of him. Thor could’ve killed Thanos more quickly than he tried to with the ax. He showed up, and he took a moment — because of his anger, because of his motivation — to tell Thanos that he told him he would die … and finish him off in a very deliberate way. Thor sort of got lost in his emotions in a similar way as Star-Lord and could also have been responsible for Thanos.”
If you’d like to relive Peter Quill’s disintegration over and over again, be sure to pick up Avengers: Infinity War when it arrives on Blu-ray on August 14.
