Avenger: Infinity War depicted Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) in a way that made him look stronger than Spider-Man (Tom Holland), but that may not be the case. In 2018, the Marvel Cinematic Universe all came together for the beginning of Infinity Saga's culmination. The Joe and Anthony Russo-directed flick brought together all pockets of the franchise in the hopes of foiling Thanos' (Josh Brolin) evil plan to wipe out half of the galaxy. That includes the team-up between previously unacquainted heroes like the Guardians of the Galaxy and other Earth-bound characters.

With a massive cast of characters, the filmmakers had to be crafty in order to give everyone their chance at the spotlight, so they decided to break the heroes apart into smaller teams. One of which was the New York-based group of Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and Spider-Man with Guardians of the Galaxy members Star-Lord, Drax, and Mantis. Things didn't go smoothly, however, when they first got together as everyone got into a little scuffle ending with Parker locked on Quill's arms, ready to be blasted on the head.

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Both teams eventually settled down and realized that they're all on the same team with one common goal, but it raised the idea that Star-Lord is stronger than Spider-Man considering how he was able to lock him down despite the Queens-native's agility. Marvel Studios has yet to address the confusion, and given that it's been a while since the movie rolled out, chances are that it's not on top of their priority. In any case, there is a way to clarify the commotion when one thinks about how the whole sequence played out. The top argument for Quill supposedly being stronger than Parker is that he's a half-Celestial, being the son of Ego the Living Planet (Kurt Russell); this also explains why he's able to hold the Power Stone with bare hands for as long as he did. That being said, it's important to remember that he lost his superpowers when he killed his father in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, effectively relegating him to being a normal human being who happens to be a skillful pilot and a great fighter.

Peter Quill holding a weapon and holding Spider-Man in a headlock

Given this, Quill's ability to trap the web-slinging-hero may not be about his own skills set; instead, it could be a combination of different things. Star-Lord was operating on adrenaline as he was so hell bent in finding Gamora after Thanos took her with him in Knowhere. So, when he and the remaining Guardians of the Galaxy members with him arrived at Titan, they were geared for battled. Spider-Man and the rest of his team had only crash landed on the alien planet, unaware of what to expect. So when they were ambushed, and Peter was genuinely shaken up by Mantis, the Guardians of the Galaxy immediately had them on a disadvantage. Other elements that could've played in the scenario include Spider-Man having a new suit. We saw how long it took him to get used to his first Stark armor in Spider-Man: Homecoming, so there's a possibility that he was still getting used to it. And finally, perhaps his Spider-sense didn't really kick in when Quill got his hands on him, the same way that it didn't for Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Whatever the real reason was, the good thing was that they're able to clear up the misunderstanding before both camps suffered any unnecessary casualties before they even met Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. With the several MCU founding heroes now no longer around, the safety of the universe now lies in the hands of newer characters such as Star-Lord and Spider-Man.

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