Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame co-writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely touched once more on the topic of Star-Lord’s infamous blunder in a recent chat with the Empire Film Podcast, arguing that there’s “a lot of blame to go around” for Thanos’ snap.
We all remember the scene where Peter Quill loses his cool when confronting the Mad Titan, and the fans certainly haven’t let Chris Pratt forget this unfortunate slip-up. But when McFeely was asked if Star-Lord deserves the blame for Thanos’ Infinity War victory, the scribe offered a reminder that the Guardians of the Galaxy star wasn’t the only hero to make a mistake:
“He’s one of many [who screwed things up]. I don’t accept that.”
Markus went on to argue that emotions were running high during Quill’s meeting with Thanos, and that Star-Lord responded to the news of Gamora’s death in a very human way:
“I don’t think he screws [it up] — if you are standing in front of your girlfriend’s father and find out that he just killed your girlfriend, you’re gonna hit him in the face. I mean, there’s nothing that’s gonna stop you from hitting him in the face,” Markus said.
“I just think it’s totally emotionally understandable, particularly when you add in the scene where he was supposed to kill her. I mean, it’s a pretty big mindf—k to be in a situation where you failed — where your failure was failing to kill your girlfriend — which then made it possible for her father to kill her. And to succeed the right thing you should have done as a good person was to murder your girlfriend. He’s under a lot of stress at the moment.”
After the release of Avengers: Infinity War, co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo repeatedly went on record defending Star-Lord’s impulsive behavior. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, for instance, Joe observed that having already lost his mother and killed his own father, the death of Gamora was enough to put Peter over the edge. The helmsman added that Star-Lord “is a flawed character, and that’s what’s so compelling about him.”
Regardless, in the recent Endgame, the effects of Thanos’ snap were largely reversed, albeit with a few lingering consequences that Spider-Man: Far From Home will have to address next month. As for Star-Lord, you can expect the newly un-dusted hero to return in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.