Who’s the true villain of Avengers: Infinity War? If you ask a lot of angry fans, the answer isn’t Thanos, the guy who wiped out half the universe, but rather Star-Lord. Infamously, Peter Quill couldn’t contain his anger at one point in the movie and lashed out at the Mad Titan, disrupting his teammates’ plan to get the Infinity Gauntlet off the villain’s wrist. As such, to some, Chris Pratt’s character is responsible for all the deaths that Thanos caused later on.
Thankfully, the actor himself has taken the backlash against the Guardian in good humor, joking about it on social media and explaining why he thinks Peter’s actions are totally understandable. If Pratt’s comments didn’t convince you, though, then maybe this Reddit theory will, as it puts forth the idea that Star-Lord’s emotional reaction in Infinity War is practically the same as what Iron Man did at the end of Captain America: Civil War.Â
In that movie, Zemo gets Tony Stark right where he wants him when he drops the bombshell that Bucky Barnes is responsible for his parents’ deaths. This obviously has Tony riled up and he attacks the former Winter Soldier. Cap attempts to get him to calm down, as he’s playing right into Zemo’s trap, but Iron Man is too grief-stricken to listen.
In Infinity War, meanwhile, Nebula tells Star-Lord that Gamora’s dead, which Thanos follows up by revealing that he killed her. While it’s unclear if the villain is deliberately taunting Peter here, the effect is the same as when Zemo did something similar to Tony, as Peter lashes out, not listening to the warnings from the other heroes.
Given that both of these movies are written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, we imagine the parallels are deliberate. For one, notice how it’s Tony who’s trying to calm Peter down – he’s been in this exact situation before and he knows how difficult it is to keep a cool head.
When considered in this light, Star-Lord’s lapse of good judgement in Avengers: Infinity War seems less like a dumb, out-of-character moment and more of a sign of his humanity. If Iron Man didn’t get all the hate when he did the same thing, why should Peter?
