MCU: 5 Things Star-Lord Did That Were Inspirational (& 5 Times We Felt Sorry For Him)
One thing Marvel has done incredibly well for a lot of their characters is character development. It's important for an audience to be able to see that journey and growth throughout the movie as part of the storytelling.
By nature, Peter Quill started out looking out for himself and getting himself into trouble with little to no aspiration of being part of a team or falling in love. By the events of Avengers: Endgame Quill had lost a great deal in his life and grew a lot as a character over the events of Guardians of The Galaxy and Guardians of The Galaxy: Volume 2. Let's take a look at five inspirational moments from Quill, and five where fans felt his pain.
10 Inspirational: When He Became A Father Figure For Baby Groot
The plot of the Guardian's movies circle around parenthood with Guardians of The Galaxy touching on Peter's relationship with his mother and Guardians of The Galaxy: Volume 2 revolving around Peter's relationship with his father Ego, his father figure Yondu and Rocket being a sort of father to baby Groot.
In the final moments of the sequel, Peter Quill listens to the song 'Father & Son' while holding Baby Groot. After the tough ride he has just experienced with Ego, and how Groot was shunned by everyone bar Rocket and Gamora during the movie, it was nice to see Peter evolving even more and taking care of the Guardian's youngest member.
9 Felt Sorry For Him: When Mantis Revealed His Love For Gamora
in Guardians of The Galaxy: Volume 2, fans are introduced to Mantis, an empath who has the ability to feel other people's feelings. When she uses her powers on Quill she senses his love for Gamora and reveals this to the other Guardians, Gamora included, which is met by a laughing fit from Drax.
It's always an embarrassing time to have a crush revealed to everyone around you but thankfully it seemed Gamora felt the same way.
8 Inspirational: When He Looked After The Guardians
When fans first met the Guardians each one of them was very much on their own journey through life, causing mayhem throughout the Galaxy in their own way before the events of the first movie brought them together for a higher purpose.
At the end of the movie, Peter Quill, who was simply a Ravager and thief at the beginning, took on the responsibility of keeping an eye out for the others at the end. As well as dealing with the loss of his mother, this was another way in which Quill grew as a character throughout the first movie.
7 Felt Sorry For Him: When He Lost 30,000 Units
In the Kyln prison, in order to escape Rocket tells the team that he needs one of the inmate's prosthetic leg in order to carry out his plan, an item which Peter Quill was left with getting. Thankfully, Quill never used force in order to get the leg but it did cost him dearly.
When Quill returned with the leg Rocket revealed that he never actually needed it in the first place, and only said it as a joke so the one-legged inmate was now hopping around. Quill reveals he had to transfer him 30,000 units as a trade, and it was all for nothing.
6 Inspirational: When He Killed Ego
It was a close call for Peter Quill as his father Ego almost got complete control of his powers. However, when Ego revealed that he was the one to put the tumor inside Peter's mother's head, Peter snapped out of his trance to shoot his father and, after an enduring battle, put a stop to his father.
Even when Ego tried to save his own life by saying Quill would lose his powers if Ego died, Quill responded with "what's so wrong with that?", showing fans that he didn't need supernatural abilities to be a guardian of the galaxy.
5 Felt Sorry For Him: When He Lost His Mother
The event that started Peter on his long journey with the Guardians was his mother's death. After she died, Peter ran outside and was taken by Yondu. As traumatic as this event was for Peter at such a young age, he would never have met the rest of the team if it wasn't for this life-event.
Peter never fully moves on from his mother's death, as no child would, but at least it shaped him into the hero he is today (even if he did mess up killing Thanos on Titan).
4 Inspirational: When He Almost Shot Gamora
"Inspirational" isn't exactly the first word that comes to mind when you hear of Quill going to shoot Gamora but in Avengers: Infinity War there was far more to it. Gamora knew that if Thanos got a hold of her, he would find the soul stone, so in order to save the others, she made Quill promise to kill her if this happened.
This was arguably the hardest thing that Quill has ever had to do but his love for Gamora was so strong that he was going to kill her if that's what she wanted him to do so save everyone else. As to 2014 Gamora's current whereabouts, fans will have to wait for Guardians of The Galaxy: Volume 3 to find out.
3 Felt Sorry For Him: When He Lost Yondu
In the heart-breaking third act of Guardians of The Galaxy: Volume 2, Rocket gives Yondu a breather and jetpack to save Quill, knowing fine well that Yondu was going to sacrifice himself to save Quill, as director James Gunn revealed. After Yondu saves Quill from the collapsing planet he flies him as far as he can away from it to save his life.
Upon realizing that Yondu is going to die, Peter scrambles to take the breather suit off of himself and give it to Yondu but it's too late, and Peter loses his friend, mentor, and father figure in one of the MCU's saddest moments.
2 Inspirational: When He Grabbed The Power Stone
After distracting Ronan with a dance-off just long enough for Rocket and Drax to break Ronan's staff, Peter jumps to grab the power stone, one of the six Infinity Stones, knowing fine well it will most likely kill him as, at this point, Peter was unaware of his supernatural parentage.
It was this selfless act, as well as the selfless acts of the other Guardians to hold onto to Quill to share the power between them, that saved Xandar and killed Ronan.
1 Felt Sorry For Him: When He Lost Gamora
As fans will remember, Thanos had to sacrifice Gamora for the soul stone in Avengers: Infinity War by throwing her over the cliffside on Vormir. When Thanos returns to Titan with the soul stone and the guardians, along with Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Doctor Strange, have Thanos subdued, Nebula realizes that Gamora is absent but the soul stone is not and puts the pieces together.
Peter learns of Gamora's death which destroys him and he lashes out in anger. After losing his mother, father, a father figure in Yondu, and now Gamora, Quill returned in Avengers: Endgame to help the Avengers defeat Thanos and his army for good. If he can't protect Gamora, fans can be damn well sure he'll avenge her.