With the upcoming release later this year of Avengers: Doomsday, it’s perhaps a good time to take a look back at the massive cultural moment that was Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. It’s impossible to undersell just how much people loved those two films, or just how much people hated Peter Quill, and by extension Chris Pratt, for the character’s actions in the movie.
In a recent appearance on YouTube’s Out of Order channel, Pratt discussed the absolute hate that he got from MCU fans because, as many argued, Peter Quill’s rash actions in Infinity War arguably led to The Snap, and ultimately the death of Iron Man. Pratt explained…
What’s wild about this scene is how much people eviscerate Quill because of his responsibility for essentially getting Iron Man killed for that moment. People genuinely hate the character for a while, and I really felt that. People, on the street, would be like, 'Why’d you do it, man?' I’m like, What? 'I didn’t do anything!' Also, if [Quill] hadn’t done, the two movies would’ve been thirty minutes long. 'We got him!’ That’s not a movie.
In Avengers: Infinity War, the Guardians of the Galaxy, alongside Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Doctor Strange, have a plan to remove the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos. The plan very nearly works until Peter Quill learns of the death of Gamora, causing Quill to lose control and allowing Thanos to regain the upper hand.
It’s no understatement to say that fans were mad at Peter Quill after all this. Even James Gunn didn't love what happened with the characters. People seemed to hold Chris Pratt personally responsible for the actions of his character. While the actor is absolutely right that there’s basically no second movie if Quill doesn’t do what he did, Pratt admits that he understands why people felt so strongly. He also says he had no idea at the time things would get that way. Pratt continued…
So, looking at it now, I kind of feel the weight and the ramifications of what happened to the character of Quill because of that. I’m still happy that it happened, but I didn’t understand that it would be iconic. We were all just trying to kind of find our ass, for me at least, you know what I mean?
The events of the last two Avengers movies also led to an incredible final film in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, so while Star-Lord may have made a bad call, it certainly worked out for movie fans. We’ve been promised Star-Lord will return, though exactly how or when is far from clear. Hopefully, when he comes back, he won’t do anything terrible and upset too many fans.
