Star-Lord Is The Only MCU Hero Not Yet Redeemed For Infinity War Mistakes

Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) is the only remaining hero who hasn't made up for his mistake in Avengers: Infinity War. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, the 2018 Marvel Studios blockbuster started the culmination of the Infinity Saga. It showed the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy teaming up for the first time to defeat Thanos (Josh Brolin). Unfortunately, despite putting up a gallant fight, the Mad Titan was still able to collect all six Infinity Stones and snap half of the universe's population out of existence.

Ever since the release of Avengers: Infinity War, Star-Lord has received a lot of backlash for his breakdown on Titan. He and some of his Guardians of the Galaxy members teamed up with the New York-based heroes of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), before devising a plan to ambush Thanos on his homeworld. The scheme was working quite well — up until Quill found out that the villain had killed Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to gain the Soul Stone on Vormir. Unable to keep his emotions in check, he started angrily hitting the Mad Titan, derailing their ploy to steal the Infinity Gauntlet from him. Had they succeeded in this ruse (and disregarding how the Avengers' loss was fated as revealed in Loki), the Decimation may have hadn't happened.

It's unfair, however, to solely pin the Blip on Star-Lord's outburst; there were several other factors that contributed to the heroes' defeat in Avengers: Infinity War. The difference is, everyone who made a mistake in dealing with the Mad Titan has already been redeemed — except for Quill. Captain America dropped the ball when he stubbornly refused to sacrifice Vision (Paul Bettany) to save the universe. Meanwhile, Iron Man's decision to take the fight against Thanos in Titan only made it easier for the villain to acquire the Time Stone. Finally, Thor's catastrophic error of not going for the head gave Thanos just enough time to snap and kick off the Decimation. However, all three of them had already compensated for their slips in Avengers: Endgame. Aside from participating in the final act battle between the Avengers and 2014 Thanos, they also went on a risky mission in the time heist. For Tony Stark, he even gave up his life just to ensure the universe's future that's free from the villain's threats.

Since Star-Lord was snuffed out of existence, he hasn't really had the chance to vindicate himself from his blunder. Unfortunately for him, participating in the movie's last action set-piece isn't nearly enough to redeem his colossal mistake. This begs the question: how can Quill make up for his error? At this point, the MCU is slowly moving on from the events of the Infinity Saga, and while it's still regularly referenced, it doesn't exactly define the franchise's future storytelling. The Mad Titan is now dead and so are his minions. The Sacred Timeline's Infinity Stones are no longer in existence, while Steve Rogers returned the Stones they used in the time heist to their original settings. There's really no direct way to exonerate himself for his Titan meltdown. Instead, what he can do is to ensure that no such threats as Thanos emerge again. It would also help if he finally addresses the trauma from the death of his mother which is the root cause of his emotional volatility. This way, he could be a more effective leader to the Guardians of the Galaxy and a better hero overall.

Fortunately for Quill, he has the opportunity to do all that in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Plot specifics for the James Gunn-directed threequel are still scant at the moment, but it will be set after the events of the Infinity Saga and will revolve around the team's attempt to locate 2014 Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Depending on how the cosmic team's upcoming mission pans out, this gives Star-Lord the chance to redeem himself from his Avengers: Infinity War mistake.

More: How Eternals Supports “Thanos Was Right” (& Why He Wasn't)