In 2018's Avengers: Infinity War, the Guardians of the Galaxy teamed up with The Avengers on Titan for a battle with Thanos. However, when Star-Lord learned that the Mad Titan had murdered Gamora, he lost his cool and attacked the villain.
Spider-Man and Iron Man were moments away from removing the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos' grip, but Peter Quill inadvertently broke Mantis' hold on him, and has since been blamed for Iron Man's eventual demise.
After all, had Star-Lord not acted in haste, the Infinity Gauntlet would have been hidden from Thanos, and half the universe wouldn't have been snapped out of existence. Crucially, Tony Stark's sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame would then not have happened.
Peter had just lost the woman he loved, so his anger was understandable. Despite that, many fans turned on Star-Lord, and the unexpected backlash wasn't lost on actor Chris Pratt.
Talking to Out of Order, he recalled, "It’s a mega scene. I look at it differently now than I did going into it. This was very much a supporting part. Between Infinity War and Endgame, I think I worked maybe twenty days total. I was there to support the Avengers cast. I love the Russos—they’re great at letting us collaborate, contribute to the writing, and shape the characters."
"This was also the first time I played the character without James Gunn directing me. That was noticeable, especially given James’s relationship to Peter Quill. But this wasn’t a Guardians movie—it was an Avengers movie. What’s wild about this scene is how much people eviscerated Quill for that moment of human weakness. People genuinely hated the character for a while."
"On the street, they’d come up to me like, 'Why’d you do it, man?' I’m like, 'I didn’t do anything!' Also, if Quill hadn’t done that, the two movies would’ve been thirty minutes long. 'We got him.' Roll credits," Pratt continued. "That’s not a movie. Looking back, I feel the weight of what that moment did to the character. I’m still glad it happened, but I didn’t realise at the time it would become iconic."
It's wild that the Guardians of the Galaxy star had to put up with so much hate, but all was seemingly forgiven by the time Vol. 3 rolled around in 2023. The expectation is that Pratt will reprise the role in Avengers: Doomsday and, failing that, Avengers: Secret Wars.
Now that Star-Lord is on Earth, we're bound to see a different side of the character, and it's not outside the realm of possibility that Peter's guilt for Iron Man's death influences where he goes next.