The MCU has lost another superpowered hero.
Related: Boycotting of Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ Starts Huge Debate
The fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), owned by The Walt Disney Company’s Marvel Studios, has been experiencing a bit of a downturn lately is no secret. Movies like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), and the first movie of Phase Five, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), have not been received as well by critics as much as prior Marvel films.
James Gunn’s final Marvel universe project, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) released last weekend on May 5, 2023. Scored by John Murphy, it marks the end of the line for the original team of Guardians. The film, follows the team’s previous appearances in Thor: Love and Thunder and the Avengers films from the Infinity Saga. Prior to this, the Guardians’ most recent adventure can be seen in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, a well-received festive Marvel Studios Special Presentation on Disney+.
The film also stars Adam Warlock, portrayed by Will Poulter, and his “mother”, Elizabeth Debicki’s Ayesha. Chukwudi Iwuji is the High Evolutionary, accompanied by his lackey Theel (Nico Santos), while Daniela Melchior is Ura and Kai Zen is Phyla-Vell. Additionally, Linda Cardellini makes her debut as Lylla the Otter, Asim Chaudhry is Teefs the Walrus, and Mikaela Hoover is Floor the Bunny – all of whom are former cellmates and friends of Rocket Raccoon’s.
Why is Star-Lord no longer a superhero?
It appears that writer and director James Gunn is coming clean with some new information that he’s finally revealing to fans of the franchise, over on Twitter.
The second Guardians film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), saw Pratt’s Peter Quill discover the truth behind his father. His dad, Ego (Kurt Russell), turned out to be a Celestial — AKA a galactic space god who was basically an entire planet. Ego had a crazy plan to create offspring, but impregnating individuals across the galaxy with his… Celestial seed, to see if any of the progeny took on his powers as a god.
When asked by user @AxlcruzDeaD if Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord still has superpowers, Gunn replies with a very clear negative:
@AxlcruzDeaD: Does peter still have some kind of power or something unnatural in his body that makes him Survive more than a normal human???James Gunn: No.
No.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 7, 2023
With Star-Lord essentially half-god, it explained how Quill was able to take on much of the purple Power Stone’s (one of the Infinity Stones) power in the first Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) movie. This made him an official “superhero” in the MCU — that is until he killed Ego, essentially deleting his own powers that came from his Celestial father.
While many speculated that Pratt’s Star-Lord was still holding onto some of that superpower seeing as his genetics remain the same, it’s only now that Gunn has addressed the fact that Peter Quill is in fact fully human. @WestBANKS_ brought up the difference between Quill in space without his helmet in Vol. 1 and Vol. 3, going from “God to a bag of meat”, prompting the writer-director to ask where they saw this difference:
@WestBANKS_: I figured this is why his state in space without any kind of gear was different between Vol 1 and 3
James Gunn: How do you think it was different?
@WestBANKS_: While he ices over similarly the capillaries in his face bursting and the swelling feels more human. Like he went from God to bag of meat. Lol. That was my read of it.
How do you think it was different?
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 7, 2023
While he ices over similarly the capillaries in his face bursting and the swelling feels more human. Like he went from God to bag of meat. Lol. That was my read of it.
— West Banks (@WestBANKS_) May 7, 2023
Now, it seems the MCU is officially down yet another superpowered individual — with the non-powered hero count climbing ever-higher as older Marvel heroes leave the franchise. With the role of Captain America now transferred to another regular human in Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, a title bestowed on him from Chris Evans’ Super Soldier, Captain America/Steve Rogers, up against ridiculously overpowered heroes like Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and the Eternals, it definitely feels like the MCU is headed in those vastly different directions as announced by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige.
At least we have confirmation that Peter Quill is truly just a dude with some cool space guns and a charismatic attitude.
What do you think about Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord no longer being a strict superhero? Share your thoughts in the comments below!