SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War, in theaters now.
While Avengers: Infinity War was full of emotional moments, there was perhaps one moment in particular that drew heavy from one character’s emotional distress, resulting in one of the most controversial scenes in the film — Star-Lord’s decision to act on impulse when the team had nearly taken the Gauntlet from Thanos. Many fans felt Star-Lord was responsible for the events that would follow, with someone even going as far as to label the Guardian as Thanos’ biggest ally in the film. However, directors Joe and Anthony Russo have since come to the defense of the character’s actions.
In a new interview with Huffington Post, the Russo brothers addressed a handful of spoiler-filled topics, including Peter Parker’s Spidey-sense and the fan-theory that Groot is still technically around courtesy of the Stormbreaker. However, the biggest topic that the directing duo tackled was that of Star-Lord’s emotional response. Although it seemed highly doubtful that our heroes would go on to defeat Thanos in Infinity War knowing that a second film was still to come a year later, there was a moment on Titan when Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and a handful of the Guardians seemed to be on the verge of securing the Infinity Gauntlet. Of course, as we all know by now, Star-Lord’s inability to control his grief forced him to react and therefore help the Mad Titan regain control of the situation, and in doing so, the Gauntlet. While fans have come to blame Star-Lord for going against the plan, the Russo brothers explain that the hero simply made a very emotional decision and shouldn’t be blamed for his actions.
RELATED: Infinity War: How Peter Dinklage’s Scenes Were Filmed
Joe Russo was quick to note the character’s tragic past, and how he’d not only lost his mother to cancer at a young age, but that he was kidnapped by “pirates” and forced to murder his own father. All of that is enough to deal with as it is, but then he’d been forced to accept the loss of yet another person in his life he’d come to love. “His girlfriend, who he was in love with, was murdered by another corrupt paternal figure … He made a very emotional choice.”
Of course, as we saw in the film, Star-Lord wasn’t the only hero to act on impulse. After witnessing the death of his brother, Loki, and best friend, Heimdall, at the hands of Thanos, Thor promised the Mad Titan he would die for what he’d done. Although the God of Thunder spent a majority of the film looking to secure a weapon to defeat the villain, when he finally came face to face with Thanos, Thor failed to do what he’d set out to do. Rather than ensuring he’d successfully defeated Thanos, rather than injuring him with a single blow, Thor felt the need to remind Thanos of the promise he’d made to him. It’s his decision to do this that allowed Thanos to successfully complete the very task he’d set out to do from the beginning.
So, what was the reasoning behind these choices? To make the characters more relatable by making what felt like human choices. “They make very human choices. I think if we learn anything from narrative is to put yourself inside the POV of someone — or the character itself — you should be able to empathize with that character, understand the choices that they make.”
RELATED: Infinity War is Now the Highest Grossing Marvel Movie in China, Ever
In theaters now, Avengers: Infinity War is directed by Joe and Anthony Russo and stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Tom Hiddleston and Josh Brolin, among others.