Warning: SPOILERS Below for Avengers: Infinity War!
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After meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy in Avengers: Infinity War, Thor should have a new calling: replacing Star-Lord as their leader. While many characters encountered each other for the first time in Avengers 3, the most worthy Marvel team-up was the God of Thunder encountering the ragtag band of intergalactic screw-ups he had no idea even existed. This combo was the jolt of lightning both Avengers: Infinity War and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole needed.
The heroes played by two of the Eitri in Nidavellir in order to acquire a new weapon that can kill Thanos, the Stormbreaker axe. Meanwhile, Star-Lord led his group to find Thanos on Knowhere. But the seed was planted, and Thor hanging with the Guardians is an irresistible idea that needs to continue.
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Though the combined heroes ultimately failed to stop Thanos from wiping out half the universe with the the Black Order in Wakanda. Meanwhile, on Titan, Quill lost his cool and ruined what he claimed was his own plan, costing Tony Stark's squad the chance to take the Gauntlet from Thanos.
Whatever the future holds for the space gang after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is due in 2020 - Infinity War showed fans that the Guardians would be better off with the God of Thunder calling the shots instead of Star-Lord.
- This Page: The Guardians Are Going Nowhere With Star-Lord
The Guardians Are Going Nowhere With Star-Lord
Avengers: Infinity War picks up four years since the end of Guardians can't change too much so that the characters are recognizable in the way fans knows them best. But some newfound maturity from Star-Lord would have been welcome; instead, we saw the complete opposite. Outside of becoming romantic with Gamora, Peter comes off like he hasn't grown one bit as a person or as a leader. Rocket and Gamora remained as exasperated with him as ever.
To be fair, Peter Quill is a great character. In Guardians, he can be roguish and infuriating, but he's also cool and funny. Ultimately, Star-Lord proves to be heroic and loveable despite his character defects. In Infinity War, however, Star-Lord was at his absolute worst. Of all of the characters in the film, none behaved more poorly than Quill. His emotional outburst sabotaged the Avengers and Guardians when they had Thanos subdued and had almost taken the Gauntlet. Of course, Peter losing it in that moment was human and understandable - he was emotionally distraught that Thanos had killed Gamora to gain the Soul Stone. Most people would react with similar anger towards the murderer of the woman they love.
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However, Quill's behavior even before that mistake hardly made him endearing. From being petty and jealous just because Gamora massaged the arm of a "not-that-good-looking" god to acting like an arrogant jerk while Tony Stark was trying to come up with a game plan against Thanos, Star-Lord was in rare form throughout the entire movie. The Doctor Strange's endgame).
Now, the Guardians are a found family and Peter is, by default, the head of that unit. However, his claim to leadership often amounts to the fact that he owns the ship they live on, in this case, a new vessel called the Benatar. But after four years under Quill's guidance, the Guardians seem to have grown stagnant. If and when the Guardians return to life in Avengers 4, maybe they simply require new leadership. As fate would have it, the solution slammed right into their windshield.
Infinity War Gave Thor Back His Godhood
At the start of Avengers: Infinity War, Thor was the most broken he'd ever been in his 1,500 years of life when the Guardians found him. After the destruction of his hammer Mjolnir and of Asgard itself, Thor endured even more horrors as he helplessly watched Thanos slaughter half of his surviving people and Stormbreaker, Thor has a new weapon to channel his lightning, and it can even open the Bifrost so that he can travel anywhere in the Nine Realms.
By the time Thor, Rocket, and Groot saved the day in Wakanda, the King of Asgard was good as new, if not even better. More importantly, his two most recent Marvel movie appearances showcased that Thor is worthy of being a leader. He inspires loyalty, he's good to his friends, and between the Revengers and his team-up with "Rabbit" and "Tree", Thor's best destiny isn't just being the "strongest Avenger" (a title he can actually claim now), but at the head of a team - preferably in outer space. The Guardians and Thor not only work well together, they could benefit from each other long-term.
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The Guardians Already Like Thor
In best jokes, Drax was amusingly taken with this handsome "pirate angel", although it was surprisingly Rocket who crafted the closest relationship, dropping his usual irascible veneer and taking pity on the mourning God.
It's thanks to Rocket and his penchant for thievery of mechanical body parts that the God of Thunder has two eyes once more. As for Groot, once he put down his video game and came to the rescue, he gave Stormbreaker his own arm as a handle so that Thor could be mighty again. Someone who can inspire the loyalty of Rocket and Groot has done something pretty special. Now, Avengers 4 will have to do the legwork of restoring all of the Guardians (except Rocket) back to life, but after that, Thor should bid farewell to his human allies and pick right back up with the Guardians.
Thor Would Make The Guardians True Space Avengers
The Guardians have saved the galaxy, but they tend to only reluctantly fall into doing the right thing after screwing up royally at first. They're basically mercenaries who act heroically after exhausting other possibilities. However, Thor is a bonafide hero. The Asgardian god rights wrongs, fights evil, and helps people - "because that's what heroes do". Thor can give the daughter of Thanos, the lumbering brute, the devious rodent, the teenage tree, and especially the half-human/half-Celestial scoundrel something they sorely need: someone to inspire them. Just as the current team reflects their leader Star-Lord, the Guardians of the Galaxy led by the more experienced and worthy Thor would truly become Space Avengers - the kind of real heroes the universe needs.
And maybe it's time Star-Lord followed and learned from someone else for a change. After all, Thor is battle-tested after centuries of fighting elves, frost giants, robots, and aliens. He's incredibly powerful, he works well with other heroes, and he's loyal and brave. Thor led the Revengers to save the people of Asgard from Ragnarok, and his team-up with Rocket and Groot was a big success.
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And in truth, Thor also needs the Guardians. Frankly, now that his romance with Jane Foster is over, Thor has run through his possibilities as an Avenger on Earth, which is why he has turned his focus to more exotic adventures in outer space. Moreso, a being as powerful as Thor belongs in the cosmos. There's simply more interesting fun to be had out there for the God of Thunder.
Of course, Gunn's plans at all, but there's no telling who will comprise the Guardians going forward after that. The team is so popular, however, it's bound to continue in some fashion. Meanwhile, Infinity War has proven that Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy together is too good a combination to simply abandon.
While Thor's future is also uncertain, Chris Hemsworth is game to continue wielding Stormbreaker after Avengers 4. Bringing Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy together permanently in Phase 4 and beyond is an excellent direction that would best for the characters and for the fans. The Guardians would not only be good for Thor, the God of Thunder could lead them better than Star-Lord ever has.
